Competition

Disclaimer: Legacy of Kain belongs to Edios and Crystal dynamics, they are not me. I am making £0.00 out of this fic, it is written purely because I have a burning need to create.

Rating: PG-13

Part: One of One

Set: Pre SR1

Authoress Note: Challenges make life interesting and yield our best lessons.

Competition

I watched Raziel, trying to figure out what he was doing.

It wasn't the first time, or probably the last time his actions would befuddle me, I was getting used to him finding unorthodox means of achieving his goals, and to an extent, I could respect his ingenuity and his imagination. But sometimes he was downright odd, and I could not perform the mental gymnastics necessary to keep up with his train of thought.

I was certain that his current actions were somehow connected to a recent debate that had been going on amongst the clan leaders regarding the human citadel. They had finally noticed and pay attention to the rather formidable stronghold in their midst, previously having been too distracted by their own follies and building projects, each more outlandish than his siblings.

I was used to my children trying to outdo each other, the friendly, and not so friendly, the competition was a part of who they were and I often encouraged it. Competition drove them to reach greater heights, it was a wonderful motivator for them. But sometimes it made them do bloody stupid things.

Raziel was stood at the centre of the Lake of the Damned, not staring down into the Abyss, as most would from his vantage point. Instead, he was looking in the stronghold's direction.

The bridge connecting the stronghold to the Abyss had been burnt years ago. Using the water, humans had used a natural moat to keep us at bay. It was effective against those of us who could not take to the sky's or the waters, and I was the only vampire who could fly and only a few of Rahab's older children could stand the water, so yes, I would say the moat was effective, if simplistic.

Raziel was staring ahead of himself, looking across the chasm that separated the stronghold from the Abyss, I knew what he could see from that angle, a narrow opening, that housed another river. There was no way up it for one of his skill levels. So why was he staring at it so intently? He couldn't think to jump? Even if he could clear the distance over the deep water, the shallow water was still deep enough to cause him serious damage, possibly killing him if left in it too long.

"What are you doing?" I muttered to myself, confident that the distance between us and the roar of the Abyss would stop him hearing me. I fully expected him to turn and head back either to the Sanctuary or to his own clan holdings, but the little fool surprised me when he bolted forward. I nearly vomited up my heart when he leapt off the edge of the platform and into the void. His speed was impressive but there was no chance of him making the jump and even if he did his landing place would be a river.

I raised a complete fucking idiot.

"Raziel!" I shouted, his head turned mid-jump, spotting me, his expression already betraying that he had realised that this was his most stupid idea. It tempted a small part of me to let him fall, it was already apparent that his jump would fall short, but I couldn't. I reached out and telekinetically grabbed the little idiot, catching him and lifting him back to relative safety. I say relatively as I was half tempted to murder him.

"Father," he said when I reached him. "I…" I interrupted him with a sharp backhand across his face.

"What were you thinking!" I bellowed. "Are you trying to die? Have you grown weary of existence?"

"No," he muttered, fingers tracing over his jaw, I probably hadn't broken it. "I was trying to reach…" I interrupted him again.

"What?" I snapped. "The Abyss? The River? Do you not see the flooded channel beyond the Abyss? Tell me Raziel what were you trying to reach?" he said nothing, just looked pathetic. I turned away from him, clenching my fists to stop the temptation of belting him again. The little twit could have died, he would have died had I not been witness to his new insanity.

"I wanted to reach the stronghold," he said eventually. "Others have, I would reach it and lay siege." His voice louder and firmer. I turned to face him, my glare robbing him of any confidence he had salvaged.

"Tell me," I said through gritted teach. "Whose clan has reached the stronghold?"

"Rahab," he said after a long moment.

"I don't think I need to explain further," I said. "Now come back from the edge, it's making me nervous." He smirked at that and I glared harder at him. "Also lay siege? Just yourself?"

"Of course," he shrugged as if I had said something foolish. "I am strong and the stronghold only houses the remnants of humanity. I would take it, claim it for my own."

"There are days when I wonder how you dress in the morning," I said. Raziel frowned at me a moment. "You're a moron," I clarified.

"Why, pray tell? I would have been like a fox in the chicken coop if you'd have just left me alone." Raziel growled, growing tired of my criticism. I growled right back at him and clenched my fist again, but the tension drained out of me quickly and instead I put a hand on Raziel's shoulder and wrapped us in magic, moving us to the stronghold.

When the light of teleportation dimmed, I let Raziel gain his bearings; I had brought us to the outer wall of the stronghold. We stood outside the main entrance; I gestured to the doorway.

"Off you go then fox," I smirked. "Go get yourself some chickens." Still, stubborn Raziel huffed and went to the doorway and tried to push it open, but it would not yield, even to vampire strength. He tried scaling the walls, but this proved fruitless. The walls were smooth and he could not find purchase, for Raziel is no Zephon.

"Alright," he huffed after a time. "How do I get in?"

"You don't Raziel, ever," I said reaching out, I pulled him close and teleported us inside. "This is why," I said when we were inside the walls. I had brought us to a tower in the stronghold, one of the tallest. From here he would see much. But his attention was on the sky, marvelling at the horizon and how far he could see from such height. I clipped him gently and with my hand on the back of his head forced him to look down. Men walked the streets armed with fire and swords. I could tell from the dawning surprise on his face that there were far more than he had expected.

"There's not that many," he said after recovering from his surprise, I rolled my eyes at my foolish, overconfident son.

"You are foolish. This land," I gestured at the ground, "is useless to us. Taking it would cost us some and gain us nothing. Besides, this place serves a purpose."

"What purpose is that?" he asked.

"It gives those outside it hope," I said. "Not to mention it gives us fresh bloodlines when needed, and the little excursions its inhabitants make weed out the weakest of our kind."

"They are fat and weak," Raziel grumbled, his sour mood obvious, "They cannot serve a useful purpose other than to be hunted." I snorted, my eldest glared at me.

"Fine," I smirked at him. "Hunt them, see what happens to you." I watched as Raziel, stubborn pride almost visibly radiating from him, walk to the very edge of the tower and drop to the ground. The fall was far, but he was strong and landed lightly.

It took a moment for the first mortal to spot him; it was almost amusing to see his offence when none of the mortals spotted him immediately, his offence grew when those that spotted him did not immediately cower. Instead, they called out, and others came running, well armed and prepared. They didn't seem overly surprised that a vampire had gotten past their defences. I made a mental note to talk to Rahab about sending his children here less often.

I watched calmly as the mortals below moved with practised coordination, something Raziel had not seen since the early years after his birth when the remnants of the Serafan still walked Nosgoth, and it was something Raziel had forgotten. It took him perhaps three minutes to realise he was in trouble. He was far stronger than any mortal, smarter I'd wager also, despite his recent idiocy. But they had numbers, weapons, and had hunted vampires as a group before. Raziel alone could not last long and he knew it, he was still too young. He looked up at me, his expression becoming increasingly desperate. I smiled and waved at him.

"Ok point made." I heard him call up at me. The mortals attacking him did not fault in their attack when he started talking to himself. "OK," he said louder. "I understand why I can't hunt here."

"You do?" one of the mortal men said smirking. "Well, I guess we'll just let you go then." I rolled my eyes and dropped behind the group.

"He wasn't talking to you," I muttered.

Together Raziel and I could end the group quickly, but more were coming, an alarm was ringing, I grabbed my eldest and took us out of the stronghold.

"Do you understand now, Raziel?" I said as we appeared at the abyss. It was not really a question, but he nodded anyway.

"I leave the stronghold as it is, it would cost us too much to take it, although I am sure we could." His last note of defiance made me smile, I was glad he had not lost that spark of defiance and didn't blindly swallow everything I told him, although it would have made my life easier if he did.

"For a vampire alone, it is death, even for you," I said. "You will not go there again."

"Not yet," Raziel said. I sighed but resolved to let the matter lie.

End ficlet

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