What Can Be Relied On
TITLE: What Can Be Relied On
FANDOM: Legacy of Kain
CHARACTER: Kain, Raziel
TABLE: # 7 - Miscellaneous A
PROMPT: 05. Passion
RATING: PG
WORD COUNT: 789
SUMMARY: Kain knows where the road will lead him.
When Kain was shown the future for the first time, he thought he knew everything that was to come. He knew he would destroy the kingdom of the humans and raise his own empire from its ashes. He knew he would lead a proud army of vampires, supported by lieutenants born from his blood. He knew it would all fall apart, and that he would die by the hand of a demonic creature, at some point long before he was born.
He knew it would be one of his own vampiric sons, destroyed by Kain’s betrayal and turned into something else, something alien and unreachable, out of Kain’s power. The time streaming chamber showed him the most important points of his own future, but left out so much in between. Kain knew it would be one of his offsprings to kill him, but he didn’t know which one. The creature he saw in the visions was unrecognizable. Destroyed wings, blue skin, black hair. Knowing he was writing his own death sentence yet unable to stop destiny from unfolding around him, Kain raised the ancient leaders of the Sarafan brotherhood from the dead, and knew it wouldn’t be Melchiah, for he was bald, and knew it wouldn’t be red-haired Zephon. Of the others, it could be anyone.
It didn’t matter. Never one to accept the inevitability of fate, Kain knew he had to go along with history as it was written to a certain extent, until he could rewrite it and twist it to his advantage. The more he learned of his own fate and that of the land, and of the difference between how it had to be and how it should be, the clearer became the path he had to take. There was a way to save his own life for a chance to restore Nosgoth to what it had to be, he realised, but it depended, more than he was comfortable with, on the whims and choices of the one destined to kill him. The situation that would lead to his demise could not be avoided. Only the outcome might be changed.
It was chilling to learn that his fate was ultimately depending on the will of another. But then, his fate had never been of his own making. At least this time, Kain could shape the fate of someone else, and perhaps, just perhaps turn him into someone who would act in his favour when fate demanded something else.
It was hard to do, though, as long as he didn’t know which of the four lieutenants in question to single out for his purpose. He couldn’t turn any of them into someone soft hearted enough to spare a fiend who’d betrayed them, for he needed them strong and remorseless in his war against the human cattle. And he couldn’t avoid the event that would turn one of them into a bitter enemy out for revenge. That much, he had learned, was as unchangeable as the stars.
This was, however, the least of Kain’s worries. Betrayal was merely another tool to him, easily justified by his higher goals, and the trust and loyalty of one was a small price to pay if he had the entire world to gain.
Knowing that sooner or late he was going to lose all of them, Kain refused to allow himself to develop any fondness to any of his sons that would interfere with his own self serving interests. He gave them the affection they needed to remain loyal to him, but it was merely a tool to bind them. In the end, he didn’t care. Each of them was expandable, and it didn’t matter to him which of them he had to sacrifice along the way. They were useful, sources of entertainment, but ultimately replaceable.
The only one Kain felt he might miss was his first born. Raziel, who was headstrong but loyal, bending to his lord’s will but willing to speak his mind at any appropriate or inappropriate moment, stubborn and reliable. The only one who was neither secretly planning to overthrow Kain nor crawling in the dust at his feet. Raziel, whose passion and pride made him at the same time extremely predictable and a constant source of surprise. Raziel, who was skilled enough to one day match Kain’s power, who was the only one who could rule the empire at Kain’s side, because he would never attempt to rule it on his own.
The only one who could not be replaced by anyone else.
Although the oracle never showed him, Kain knew from the beginning which of his children he would have to sacrifice to the abyss. There was a certain reliability in the cruelness of fate.
August 14, 2009
FANDOM: Legacy of Kain
CHARACTER: Kain, Raziel
TABLE: # 7 - Miscellaneous A
PROMPT: 05. Passion
RATING: PG
WORD COUNT: 789
SUMMARY: Kain knows where the road will lead him.
When Kain was shown the future for the first time, he thought he knew everything that was to come. He knew he would destroy the kingdom of the humans and raise his own empire from its ashes. He knew he would lead a proud army of vampires, supported by lieutenants born from his blood. He knew it would all fall apart, and that he would die by the hand of a demonic creature, at some point long before he was born.
He knew it would be one of his own vampiric sons, destroyed by Kain’s betrayal and turned into something else, something alien and unreachable, out of Kain’s power. The time streaming chamber showed him the most important points of his own future, but left out so much in between. Kain knew it would be one of his offsprings to kill him, but he didn’t know which one. The creature he saw in the visions was unrecognizable. Destroyed wings, blue skin, black hair. Knowing he was writing his own death sentence yet unable to stop destiny from unfolding around him, Kain raised the ancient leaders of the Sarafan brotherhood from the dead, and knew it wouldn’t be Melchiah, for he was bald, and knew it wouldn’t be red-haired Zephon. Of the others, it could be anyone.
It didn’t matter. Never one to accept the inevitability of fate, Kain knew he had to go along with history as it was written to a certain extent, until he could rewrite it and twist it to his advantage. The more he learned of his own fate and that of the land, and of the difference between how it had to be and how it should be, the clearer became the path he had to take. There was a way to save his own life for a chance to restore Nosgoth to what it had to be, he realised, but it depended, more than he was comfortable with, on the whims and choices of the one destined to kill him. The situation that would lead to his demise could not be avoided. Only the outcome might be changed.
It was chilling to learn that his fate was ultimately depending on the will of another. But then, his fate had never been of his own making. At least this time, Kain could shape the fate of someone else, and perhaps, just perhaps turn him into someone who would act in his favour when fate demanded something else.
It was hard to do, though, as long as he didn’t know which of the four lieutenants in question to single out for his purpose. He couldn’t turn any of them into someone soft hearted enough to spare a fiend who’d betrayed them, for he needed them strong and remorseless in his war against the human cattle. And he couldn’t avoid the event that would turn one of them into a bitter enemy out for revenge. That much, he had learned, was as unchangeable as the stars.
This was, however, the least of Kain’s worries. Betrayal was merely another tool to him, easily justified by his higher goals, and the trust and loyalty of one was a small price to pay if he had the entire world to gain.
Knowing that sooner or late he was going to lose all of them, Kain refused to allow himself to develop any fondness to any of his sons that would interfere with his own self serving interests. He gave them the affection they needed to remain loyal to him, but it was merely a tool to bind them. In the end, he didn’t care. Each of them was expandable, and it didn’t matter to him which of them he had to sacrifice along the way. They were useful, sources of entertainment, but ultimately replaceable.
The only one Kain felt he might miss was his first born. Raziel, who was headstrong but loyal, bending to his lord’s will but willing to speak his mind at any appropriate or inappropriate moment, stubborn and reliable. The only one who was neither secretly planning to overthrow Kain nor crawling in the dust at his feet. Raziel, whose passion and pride made him at the same time extremely predictable and a constant source of surprise. Raziel, who was skilled enough to one day match Kain’s power, who was the only one who could rule the empire at Kain’s side, because he would never attempt to rule it on his own.
The only one who could not be replaced by anyone else.
Although the oracle never showed him, Kain knew from the beginning which of his children he would have to sacrifice to the abyss. There was a certain reliability in the cruelness of fate.
August 14, 2009