The roars and howls of the wolf echoed down through the, until recent, empty corridors of the complex under the Bastion. Kain could hear them even here, behind the false wall that had slid just long ago. Now he was trapped inside with only Ashar’s world this passage came out where he said it could. Still, risks had to be taken in this unacceptable situation.
Ewoden had been reluctant to engage in the plan at all, which showed to Kain that the emissary possessed some remarkable good sense. This strategy was a desperate one and admittedly the only one they had at this time.  On top of this, Kain was running low on time. He could feel himself teetering on the knife edge ready to fall to either side. He was certain now that if he suffered another attack of weakness he would die.
Agreeing to Ashar’s proposal went against all of his common sense and prior experience. The situation was so tailor made that Moebius himself could not have set a finer trap, if it were indeed a snare designed to catch the vampire.
The answer had to be close. The stone was the key somehow. He could not say how he knew this he just felt it was true deep within his soul and that that intuitive feeling had made him agree to the proposal.
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“While the Lycanthrope kept the horde distracted I could us this alternative entrance to the stone forge unmolested. This route was hardly a short cut but if it gave me access to the chamber I would have to make due. “
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The horde of maddened Hylden however would not be discarded by one werewolf, no matter how mighty, for very long. Eventually they would either force him to retreat or overwhelm him. The window of opportunity was brief.
This secret passage was more of a maintenance pipe, lined with many cables and curved metal instruments all welded together so precisely they seemed organic. This way must have been shut for some time, longer even then the hidden complex’ main corridors which only Malek himself had visited since their closing after the conclusion of the ancient war. It was entirely possible nobody knew of this passages existence except for its designer.
Kain had to wonder if Ashar had had some way of knowing he no longer burned in water like other vampires. There could be no other explanation for the obstacle that barred his way. The passageway opened up into a large rectangular chamber with only one exit on the far side, a large door with Hylden glyph engraved into it. Between Kain and the way forward was a large pool of brown stagnant water that stank of zinc. The pool stretched the width of the chamber completely with no way of crossing. There used to be a catwalk that enabled one to move to the other side but it seemed to have collapsed, the bridge rusted and snapped, each half jutting out of the pool at either end.
Standing like obelisks at regular intervals from the water’s surface were four large pylon like device, all with a flat top and just as rusted as the bridge. What Kain knew of machines indicated this might be an elaborate cooling system, designed to spread water around a powerful energy generator so that it would not overheat.  Indeed through the brown murk he could see pipes carrying the water around, perhaps in a wide circuit to where it might be needed.
Just as he set a foot into the water to swim across he realised his mistake for instantly his skin began to burn and boil, just as it had when he was still vulnerable to it. Instantly he retracted his foot with a grunt of pain. His burns healed but far slower than usual.
His weakened body was reverting, he realised with sinking fear. The protection that the one tablet of Dark Fable had awarded him had been rendered inert.
How was that even possible, he wondered with a furtive and anxious expression running a hand down his brow. The only thing he could think that might explain it was if his body needed to be strong and vibrant for that protection to be active. In his pitifully weakened state, water would burn him as it had ever done.
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“T’would seem navigating this alternative route would not be as easy I had anticipated. Weakened as I was, my body was unable to withstand water’s touch anymore. A lost boon that might prove fatal.”
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With the urgency of his quest firmly in mind now, Kain searched around for an alternative route. It did not take him long to find one. The pylons sticking up out of the water were not spaced too far apart. Tensing himself first, Kain leapt onto the first with a vampirically enhanced jump. Landing on the ancient machine he felt it sway briefly beneath him, much of its structural integrity lost over time to encroaching rust.
Not giving it time to buckle he jumped onto the next one, having to steady himself again as this one was even more crumbled then the first had been. He felt something break on his landing and the pylon tilted forward with a protesting groan.
Acting quickly the vampire jumped again, leaping forward to the third pylon. This one held steady and Kain paused to collect himself and prevent his own momentum and inertia from pushing him over the far edge.
One glance was enough to tell him that the last pylon between him and the door was the worst of the four. It was obviously decayed and would never hold his weight. The vampire wondered if he might make it to the door from his present location. No, it was still too far. He had no choice but to use that last Pylon as a stepping stone.
He would just have to be quick. He took a breath and the launched forward. He arched up and then landed with a thud on the last pylon, the metal straining and giving way immediately. The entire spire tilted forward and broke into pieces. Kain didn’t even set his other foot down, instead he used what little structure was left and launched forward again. He was just quick enough to so as the entire pylon collapsed into the water with a splash.
With a thud he smacked into the ledge he had been aiming forward, talons latching onto the edge to prevent himself from falling. It had been a near thing. Grunting, Kain pulled himself up and cast a glance back. Ripples were still spreading out across the pool but the pylon itself had disappeared completely.
The door barring the way forward was jammed shut but not hard to open. One solid kick sent the two halves slamming out to either side against the wall. Beyond was a square corridor that slanted sharply done. The air beyond was icy cold and Kain’s breath puffed out before him as he entered.  It lead down some considerable distance, curving slightly around a central shaft. When it opened up Kain saw that he was inside a very large egg shaped chamber.
Catwalks ran in a circle around the outside edge of the chamber running over spokes like a wheel that connected to a central machine directly in the middle. It was a complex device that Kain had no hope of understanding completely. Its function and workings were simply too advanced. A central pillar seemed to be surrounded by interweaving pipes that fed into a glass tank around the bottom.  Above this were perhaps ten alcoves each about the height of a man and as wide. Set into some of them were tall coffin like containers made of dark metal and engraved with more of the Hylden glyph writing, each denoted with different writing from the others.
On the far side of the chamber was a small platform, set into which were a complex looking set of levers and turntable gears. Kain made his way over towards this, inspecting the machine and the chamber around him.
It had similar architecture to the complex and huge living machines he had seen only in two other locations, the ancient Hylden city off the coast of southern Nosgoth and the city sized ‘Device’ buried underneath Meridian.
He looked at the controls sceptically, frowning. There seemed to be no going forward until he learned how shift something in the chamber and by the look of it, the only way out of the chamber was via a large circular hole directly beneath the central machine. This was currently blocked by the machine large rectangular base.
Then he heard the sounds coming from below, moans and shrikes, the howls of battle and the higher pitched wails of a Lycanthrope. Kain listened as, with a start, he realised that this chamber was directly above the Stone’s forge, in fact this room and its device might even be a part of the forge itself. The vampire remembered seeing a hole covered by a grate in the roof of the room before the horde had forced him to see. That hole had to be underneath this machine.
There had to be something to this, he decided quickly and the vampire turned his full attention back upon the controls before him. The sounds from below were frantic and chaotic. Ewoden would not keep the insane Hylden souls occupied forever.
Pulling a switch Kain watched as the machine before him gave off a loud clanking noise. Parts of it turned clockwise around itself and others counter clockwise, locking into new positions with an echoing metallic clunk.
The coffin like contains changed places as well. Some of them moved down to join with the block at the base of the machine while others were drawn up on metal cables up to the roof where they were slotted in place inside a secondary alcove system.
Kain saw at once what he had to do. Some levers would raise the contains and others would lower them. He had to get all the containers up and out of the way so that the way to the forge would be a clear.
It took a quick bit of trail and error, the levers not being marked in a language he understood. But driven on by the spur of the sound of battle Kain eventually figured out what levers to pull in what sequence. The last of the containers rose up out of the way and ascended, leaving the hole clear for him to see now.
The grate was fastened on tight with four large bolts that looked squashed and rigid from having so much weight put upon them so long.
Vaulting over the side of the catwalk, Kain slid down the curved side of the walls right to it as quickly as he dared go.  Reaching the grate he found his initial assessment of the state of the bolts holding it in place was correct. He could not pry this grate loose nor the mashed bolts.
He was going to have to risk using his mist form in order to pass. It was not something he wanted to do as it might provoke his condition, but this was clearly an instance of where he had no choice.
Setting himself in grim resignation the vampire concentrates and then let his body disperse. There was a moment of panic where he thought he might expire in that instant but it past with no small relief.
He sank down between the gaps in the grate easily and as he had guessed, he had re-entered the Nexus Stone’s forge. The sight of the stone with its vortex still exposed, a swirling mass of seemingly unending souls, jolted him back to solid form and he dropped to the ground with his feet not making a sound.
The Stone itself was still glowing an intense green with its true nature exposed and showed no signs of letting up.
Ashar had to have been telling the truth about the artefact. To think that the souls of millions lay trapped within and always had. He had carried around that stone to make himself immune to the Soul Reaver in the Sarafan Lord’ possession and he had never once suspected it’s true nature.
Three of the Hylden automatons were standing guard around it, all of them turned to face the open main doorway. From beyond the sounds of battle ragged intently and the howls of Ewoden’s vicious charge were beginning to falter.
Kain smiled. Even in his weakened state he could take three of them.  Without wasting any more of the time the emissary had bought him he rushed at the three of them, throwing his arm forward at them palm up. His telekinetic abilities, augmented by the Serioli gauntlet he still wore, sent a bolt of force smashing into him. Unprepared, the three suited of armour were torn off their feet and flew, with somehow startled exclamations, out the main entrance. They landed some distance away with a loud clatter.
Kain ignored them and the confused cried of their fellows outside and went at once for the Nexus Stone. He grabbed the artefact in both hands and pulled at it as hard as he could. The machine did not want to let go of the stone without a fight and held on intently. The vortex above flickered slightly from the interference. The wails of souls, driven mad from captivity, arched into a high pitched crescendo.
As Kain struggled, several more of the Hylden automatons came chagrining in with swords drawn. When they saw what the vampire was doing they all let out outraged and inarticulate scream.
“No!” One of them spat, running ahead of its fellows with a sword drawn back and ready to pierce anything in its way. “Too many are still inside!”
Still keeping his hands on the stone, Kain flipped his entire body up over the swing and then smashed his foot down on the helmet. The impact caved the metal head in and smashed it directly into the torso itself. The Hylden folded like crumbled paper.
A second brought his blade at the vampire in an overhead swing. Kain let go of the stone with one hand and gestured at the armour, grabbing it telekinetically and throwing it with full forge into another of their number not far away. The strength he had out into that caused the two of them to shatter into many metallic fragments on the jarring impact.
Another wielded a trident with barbed ends. This it jabbed at the vampire viciously and with intense fervour. Kain kept dodging the swings grabbed the weapon as it came directly at his head. With a yank he tore it free from the Hylden’s grip and then swung it across, the force enough to break the armour in half across the waist.
“We will not allow you to damn them!”  The top half of the dismembered armour spat at him from the ground, feebly struggling to attack him without benefit of a weapon or even a pair of legs.
“You are already all damned.” Kain replied without looking at it. He set his shoulders, talons digging into the stone’s bindings. “This way you have some purpose!”
He heaved as hard as he could, as hard as he dared. Veins stood out along his arms and neck and the vampire  bared his fangs from the effort.
Then finally, the metal gave in. The Nexus Stone burst forth from its slot and Kain clutched it tightly at the prize of immeasurable importance that it was. Without the forge device to hold it open, the golden setting of the central stone clicked back into its normal position and the vortex of souls instantly vanished. One minute the whirlpool of the dammed had been there and the next it was gone as if it had never been, the echo of the wail of the tormented lingering with a high pitched screech. While this was indeed a positive thing to be celebrated, Kain realised that he would have little time for that now. Clutching the stone to him he turned quickly to face that which he knew was coming.
Coming in through the main entrance of the Stone’s forge came the horde seemingly all of them at once, axes and swords covered in blood and not looking please.  A multitude of the armoured figured, slowing pushing their way into the room. The chamber seemed to resonate with their low angry growls.
Kain backed up against the wall of the chamber. But he had no place to go, a weakening body and an artefact that in the right hands could reshape the world.
The Hylden entrapped with the Sarafan armour looked upon him with loathing and anger for having deprived their kin still inside whatever salvation they might have offered.
“You...” The nearest of their number growled at him, dragging its sword tip along the ground so it trailed sparks. “We held no more malice towards your kind vampire; we were content to leave the conflict behind us and your people unmolested.” Kain glanced from right to left as the horde moved to flank him on either side of him, nowhere to run and no room of manoeuvre.
“But for what you have just done...” Their apparent leader said with a hiss, raising the sword up as if he intended to plunge it into the vampire’s chest. “...we will gladly make an exception!”