Kain grimly drew the Reaver in both hands as Mortanious finished summoning whatever thralls he deemed necessary to confront them. There were ghouls and ghosts in the air, shapeless things ripped from the ether by the necromancer and goaded into attacking them.
Kain had encountered some of these beings before. He recognised beings made out of pure darkness with claws only just perceivable on the outside of their form.
There were other creatures, less recognisable. Some were swirling masses of vapour with eyes that glared at them hungrily, long lathering tongues snaking down to the floor. The biggest of this rabble of spectral entities had a large body that sprawled out on long and thin armoured legs. They looked like warped and unnatural crabs, their jaws messily wide and filled with teeth that lanced off in all directions.
Once his personal army was before him, Mortanius threw both outs out in front of himself projecting before himself a barrier of energy that distorted his image as if being seen through badly produced glass.
-
“Mortanious was no fool and knew that while his magic was of the most potent sort, he was no warrior. So he absented himself from the scene of battle once his minions had been called to deal with us. He had the Tablet and I had to retrieve it from him at all costs, but also ensuring that Ajatar in her haste to avenge Ba’al’s murder did not kill him. I needed the Necromancer alive for without him I would not exist.”
-
Ajatar took several steps back in alarm as the small army of spectral enemies arranged themselves for battle, crying out for blood. Her gaze was fixed on the largest, the crab like beast with dozens of small green eyes across the top of its head.
Far more used to seeing bizarre creatures, Kain was able to note things about these beasts that might have been overlooked in the hat of the movement. Their forms were shimmering, no one part of their forms solid for less than a few minutes. The physical world was not suited for them and they manifested here only propelled by the Necromancer’s own magic. But as young and inexperienced as he was, Mortanious was having trouble sustaining the presence of them all.
Kain just sighed and shook his head. Mortanious as an adult had been a challenge for him when he had been a fledgling. Now that the ages and experiences were reversed, there was simply no contest.
The crab was the first of the beasts to attack, slamming its front leg don towards the grandmaster; who with a flutter of her wings swung back out of the way. The attacking limb however past through the ground some ways before coming back up, as if it wasn’t solid.
In retaliation, Ajatar slammed her hands together to call upon the Serioli discipline of air. Combining the powers of the mind and dimension, she summoned a gale within the confines of the chamber and directed the moving air directly towards the creature. The crab was undaunted, but a few of the beings around it with looser forms were blown back a few feet; parts of their form tearing away with the force of the rush.
The crab screeched and lashed out again, this time catching Ajatar across the shoulder with the tip of its stabbing limb. When it struck her the creature was very solid and the force of the blow knocked her completely across the room until she rolled to a stop by the wall.
From that display, Kain observed that only certain forces worked on these partly manifested beings. Stuck wavering between this world and the one from which they came, their bodies were in such a state of flux that was possible physical blows could not hurt them but attacks by insubstantial forces could tear at their very fabric.
With the Reaver still in hand, the vampire darted in close to the crab. It swung about to face him, scuttling forward to meet his challenge as he had half expected that it would.
When it came within striking distance, Kain swung the Reaver around to test his theory. It felt as if he were swiping at air, the blade not touching anything solid enough to hit but the Reaver did let out a screech as its power hurt the creature. The crab screamed and backed off, holding its front legs out defensively in front of it.
Kain darted again, swinging the sword at its legs; sensing rather than feeling the affect of Raziel’s spiritual energy against the creature.
The other spectral beasts, goaded on by the Necromancer, advanced quickly. Shades tore across the ground at him, claws ready to strike him down from behind. Kain swung about in mid swing, slicing several of them across their bodies. The two nearest screeched and then disappeared, the darkness that made them dissipate under Raziel’s spiritual essence.
The others backed off but circled him, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Two darted in from opposite sides, each timing their attack perfectly with the other. Kain faded into mist form immediately and their dark claws passed right through his body, doing him no harm. When they were past, he became whole again and the Reaver struck them with full force; carving through the air that was their bodies and banishing them back to the realm from which they came.
Ajatar was getting back to her feet, unsteadily. She was a good warrior but hardly experienced fighting foes from other realms, left impaired by the unearthliness of the foes that they faced here. Luckily that moment of confusion past swiftly and she again entered the fight, gathering to her the forces of time and energy; pushing them together to culminate in the elemental force of Earth.
The power of Earth, armoured her skin and enhanced her strength, allowing her to serve as a distraction for the crab as it tried to assault Kain while he was busy. Thus enhanced, she was well able now to fend off its attacks against her and even do some damage, the creature more affected by the energy she was using than by her short blades.
Free to focus on the shades, Kain set into them with a will and they fled before him, afraid to come anywhere close to the Reaver.
Entities like mist came at him, able to swiftly flow around his strikes and staying well away from the blade. They kept their distant, lashing out at him with their arms that elongated and grabs him anywhere they cold. Their touch was icy cold and the mere contact put death into his veins, slowing him down and stiffening his muscles.
Even fading into mist was not enough to disengage their grasping hands. On the verge of being sapped of energy completely, Kain held up his right hand and forged a telekinetic pulse through the augmenting Serioli gauntlet.
The shockwave that past out from him did affect them, throwing them off like they were parchment caught in the wind. Once they let go, Kain felt with a rush his strength return.
Not willing to give them any time to counter, Kain set to them with the Reaver and Raziel screamed his encouragement as the blade swung back and forth.
From behind his shield of energy, Mortanious began to look panicked. The arrogance of youth, of which Kain was no stranger, had made him overconfident and left him facing far more skilled opponents. His capture of Ba’al no doubt had puffed up his ego which had made him choose to fight instead of flee.
Ajatar slashed at the crab with her twin blades, the power of earth surging through her as a conduit, caused the entity to bleed with each strike. Green power, pulsing with energy, splattered across the floor each time. Kain had seen that kind of blood before, when he had made the False God bleed.
Where these creatures and that disgusting parasite of the same ilk? Kain did not have the luxury of time to ponder this at the present moment however.
With the mist wraiths beaten off, other stranger beings leapt to the attack. They were vaguely like fish, only with lobster like pincers on the end of spindly arms on either side. Their rear half ended in a mass of writhing tentacles and their eyes pulsed green.
They swept around Kain in perfectly formation, lashing out with their pincer whenever they got close.
One of them struck him across the back and its blow was icy, just like the mist wraiths. Only they did not need to stay in physical contact with him in order to drain him of his energy.
This must be the nature of the creatures of that spectral realm, devourers of essence, surviving by stealing energy from other beings.
Realising that he could not stand still and give them an easy target, Kain advanced and leapt up at them.
The Reaver caught one of the hunting Archons which had struck him across the chest and with a scream it disappeared. Kain felt within himself a surge and return of strength as the invisible thread that had allowed the creature to drink his power snapped with its disappearance.
The others changed their tactics at this point, staying up higher than he could reach and when passing overhead a random one of their number would drive down on him like a bird of prey.
Hardly in the mood for games, Kain raised his right hand and unleashed another force push at them through the gauntlet. It had the same affect on them as it had on the mist wraiths, pushing them back and forcing them into a spiralling confusion in mid air.
Several of them descended two low and Kain dispatched them with the Reaver and each time he struck them they vanished, returning whence they came.
Free of spectral minions for now, Kain turned with a savage look on his face to confront the young Mortanious who watched from behind his shield.
The boy’s earlier confidence had all but disappeared now and a wild look was in his eyes as he stared back at the vampire who began to approach him, step by terrorising step.
 “Stay back dark one! You shall not take me!” He declared; throwing more energy into the shield as Kain cut his way through his minions towards him.
Kain grimly pressed on.
When he reached the shield edge, Mortanious did what Kain expected him to do and panicked. He threw off his shield, discharging it directly into the vampires face while trying to translocate himself away.
As he began to vanish, Kain engulfed himself in his own teleportation and followed after him.
The young necromancer did not get far, moving himself simply around the room in his haste to get away.
Kain was never far behind him and the fear he saw in the human’s face increased with each jump. Kain knew precisely what he was doing of course, goading and distracting the Necromancer into making stupid decisions.
Even now the spectral creatures he had summoned were only half there, fading away as his concentrate slipped away from maintaining their presence.
To make him loose total control, Kain anticipated Mortanious’ next jump and when the frightened boy manifested Kain did so directly in front of him; barely a foot away from his face.
Mortanious stumbled back, eyes wide in fear. His concentration shattered and one by one his summoned creatures disappeared, fading away to be returned to their proper place.
All but one. The crab entity was still there, greatly reduced in form but definitely still there.
“Kill him!” Ajatar shouted over, dodging around the ghostly animal as its front legs stabbed at her again. She was straining against the attacks, not able to dodge the lethal blows while still maintaining her elemental connection with earth.
Kain frowned and then simply drew his hand back and lashed out, striking Mortanious across the face. He did not use his talons nor did he ball his fist, so in essence all he did was slap him.
All the same the blow knocked the young man down to his knees.
With that, the crab squealed like a pig, wavered and then disappeared. Ajatar gratefully let her power dissipate and hung there, wings drooping to either side of her exhausted body.
“I have no desire to kill some inexperienced whelp.” Kain remarked, looking down at the cowering boy at his feet in disgust. In this era, Mortanious was far from the proud and powerful Necromancer that he would one day become. He had much to learn yet.
“He will get what is coming to them in the fullness of time anyway.”
The grandmaster looked up, her golden eyes bulging.
“You’re just going to let him get away with what he and these… these vile humans have done?!” She demanded, her hair coming out of its usual slicked back position. Her fangs were bared and Mortanious shrank back from them.
“I did not say that.” Kain replied with a snort, without much enthusiasm for another argument. “But history abhors paradox and I am not going to perpetrate one now, not when finally destiny appears to be on my side, or at the very least cooperating for once.”
He pinned the young Guardian of the Pillar of Death to the floor with his foot.
“And you boy.” He stated. “Where is the Tablet that Ba’al gave to you?”
Mortanious struggled with the talons pressed against his chest.
“Speak and you get to keep your head.” Kain added.
“I have it.” The boy said. He held up one hand and concentrated quickly. Kain felt a surge as something was translocated through space. There was a short flash and in the Guardian’s hand was the Third Tablet of Dark Fable, summoned from wherever Mortanious had stashed his prize.
So he had not shared the fact that he had recovered the item with Moebius, his compatriot in this uprising? Could this be the beginning of the dissention and redeeming path that would occupy the young man’s entire life?
The tablet was just like the previous two, again with different writing scrawled across the obsidian surface. Again when he saw it, he felt that same compulsion to immediately seize the item with both hands.
Kain gestured for Ajatar to take it, not yet willing to touch it himself and suffer a collapse as he went once more into a prophetic torpor.
The grandmaster, frowning deeply, came over and nearly wrenched the stone out of the human’s hands. Disgust and contempt was written plainly across her face.
Kain retracted his foot, allowing Mortanious to get to his feet.
“You say Ba’al forgives you for this?” Ajatar asked without looking at him. “Well I do not. If I ever see you again I will personally pull out your cowardly spine.”
Kain, rather impressed with that threat, added his own remark.
“Flee this place and never return. Your weakness makes you unfit to stand in these hallowed halls.”
When Mortanious did not immediately run, Kain bared his fangs at him.
“GO! And maybe the souls of your betters you helped slaughter will forgive you.”
With that, Mortanious needed no further encouragement. His startled and terror stricken face vanished as he threw himself into his translocation.