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Chapter Five - The Sarafan Keep - "House Of My Enemy"
The Maw Of The Beast
Kain follows the Bishop's direction and arrives at the Keep. Vorador, keeping an eye on his progress, speaks to him.
Vorador: (WHISPERING)
Well done, Kain. You have entered the Sarafan Keep at last.
Kain: (WHISPERING)
Not without difficulty. I encountered another 'old friend' on the way. Marcus.
Vorador: (WHISPERING)
I see. Then may I assume that another of the Sarafan Lord's guardians have fallen?
Kain: (WHISPERING)
You may.
Vorador: (WHISPERING)
Many times I attempted to persuade Marcus to join with us, but he would not heed me.
Kain: (WHISPERING)
My arguments were more convincing.
Vorador: (WHISPERING)
I sense that Umah is being held in the uppermost reaches of the Keep. You must hurry, she is to be executed soon.
Kain: (WHISPERING)
Where is the Sarafan Lord? Is he here?
Vorador: (WHISPERING)
I do not know. His presence is masked from my senses. But you are no match for him yet, Kain. If you encounter him, hide. If he sees you, run.
Kain is disgusted by the idea of fleeing.
Kain: (WHISPERING)
Run? Hide? Vorador, you do not know me!
Vorador: (WHISPERING)
Your task is to find Umah, quickly. Let nothing distract you. The information she obtained from the Industrial Quarter may allow us to defeat the Sarafan Lord at last. Do not destroy our only chance with hasty action.
Kain V.O.:
How sickened I had become with weary admonitions of safety and care. How I longed to rend the flesh of my one true enemy, how I thirsted for the taste of his life's blood on my lips.
Vorador: (WHISPERING)
Go, Kain. Quickly! I will be watching.
Deep into the keep, within the main halls, Kain encounters a female behind a gate. He needs her to open a Ward Gate for him.
Cabal Woman:
Greetings, vampire.
Kain:
You have mistaken me, madam, for some - thing I am not.
Cabal Woman:
Don't waste my time. I know what you are. I work for the Cabal.
Now listen carefully.
Kain:
Speak then, madam.
Cabal Woman:
The woman you seek is held in one of the upper towers.
Kain:
Very good. How do I get to her?
Cabal Woman:
Not so fast. You will need to pass this Ward Gate, and you'll need me to open it for you.
Kain:
Then do so, at once.
Cabal Woman:
In due time. First, there is another task that must be completed.
Kain:
What task?
Cabal Woman:
A nobleman of some importance is visiting the Keep at this moment. He must be killed.
Kain:
So that you may open the Ward Gate? You think me a fool? Open it.
Cabal Woman:
He must be killed, I tell you. He is a traitor. He has done immeasurable harm to the Cabal, I swear it.
Kain:
Do I look like a common assassin?
Cabal Woman:
The Ward Gate will not be opened until that man is dead, I promise you. His name is Artemis. You will know him by his blue cloak. When he is dead - when his lying tongue has been stopped - I will open this gate, and not before.
Will you do it?
Kain:
Apparently I have no choice.
Cabal Woman:
Go now. Kill him, Kain. Rip out his cruel heart. Return when the deed is done.
Kain kills Artemis, and the woman opens the gate for him. She walks off.
The Rescue
Kain eventually reaches the rooftop area where Umah is being held. A Glyph Knight is there, with two Sarafan Guards.
Glyph Knight:
Bodies were found downstairs. The intruder is near. I want you to patrol the courtyard.
Sarafan Guard:
Yes, sir.
Glyph Knight:
I'll guard the cell. Move out.
Kain defeats the warriors. He approaches Umah, caged and weak. She notices him.
Umah:
Kain. I thought no one would dare attempt to rescue me. You are either brave or foolish.
Kain:
You will find me relentless.
Kain walks up the steps to free her, but is stopped by a Ward Gate.
Umah:
There must be a Glyph nearby that powers the ward. Find it, and shut it down.
Kain:
What was it that you learned in the Industrial Quarter? Tell me, in case I cannot free you.
Umah:
Tell you now, before I am freed? What would you do in my place, Kain?
Kain:
I would offer my rescuer a token of trust.
Umah:
That information is for Vorador only.
Kain:
Haven't I earned your confidence yet?
Umah:
You have not rescued me yet.
Kain:
Very well. I will return shortly.
Kain finds a way to disable the Ward Gate. He returns and helps Umah from her prison.
Kain:
You're hurt.
Umah:
It's nothing. we must get to the roof. Once I am outside these ensorcered walls, I can use a spell to transport us back to Sanctuary.
Kain takes Umah's hand and leads her outside, wary of guards. They are being watched, but Umah notices their observer first. She gasps.
Umah:
No!
Kain:
At last!
The Sarafan Lord:
What living soul disturbs my order? What creature dares shed the blood of my servants?
Kain V.O.:
He had the sword. Soul Reaver, the prize I had won a lifetime ago was in his foul possession.
The Sarafan Lord:
What is this?
Kain:
You know me!
The Sarafan Lord:
No. You were utterly destroyed. So easily, your name was drowned in the backwaters of passing time. All your plans were set alight and seared to smoke and ashes.
Kain:
Let those words be your epitaph!
The Sarafan Lord:
You dare dream of killing me? That fantasy was quenched in blood long ago when I defeated you. And yet, you have learned nothing. Such a pathetic creature.
Dare you to challenge me again?
Kain leaps at the Sarafan Lord -
Kain:
Die, fiend!
The Sarafan Lord fires a projectile of energy from the Soul Reaver, knocking Kain to the ground.
Umah:
No! Kain!
The Sarafan Lord:
Your death is fated at my hands. How many times must I teach you that lesson?
Umah:
He is too strong for you, Kain. With the Soul Reaver he can kill us both. We must flee, and fight him when we are stronger.
Kain tries to stand, ignoring her, but Umah holds him down.
Kain:
No! Release me! That demon of filth is mine!
The Sarafan Lord:
I am your fate, Kain. Now and forever. However long you delay, you will come to me - for your death!
The Sarafan Lord swings the Soul Reaver at Kain and Umah, but her magic removes them from danger just in time.
Sanctuary
They appear at Sanctuary. Kain lifts Umah up and carries her to a raised stone bier where she can recover.
Vorador:
Umah, alive and safe. Kain, you have all our thanks.
Kain:
I can follow orders when it suits me. We met the Sarafan Lord.
Vorador:
He showed himself?
Kain:
He is a touch more powerful than I expected, and he has the Soul Reaver. Strange that you did not tell me this at the first.
Vorador:
You are not ready to fight the Sarafan Lord - I told you that.
Umah sits up, her strength slowly returning.
Umah:
It was only by good fortune that we escaped.
Vorador, I must speak with you.
Vorador:
You have information for us, I know. You may speak.
Umah:
I was in the heart of the main factory in the Industrial Quarter. Before the guards discovered me, I had found a huge central chamber that housed some kind of... magic portal. The portal looked into a place the likes of which I had never seen before. And this portal was held open by a single source of magic - a stone, set on a pedestal.
Vorador, I believe it was the Nexus Stone.
Vorador:
The Nexus Stone. Of course!
Kain:
What is this thing? Explain.
Vorador:
The Nexus Stone is an item of great power. It can bend time and space to create doorways to any location within Nosgoth. I know not why the Sarafan Lord would be using it within the Industrial Quarter, but we could put it to great use.
Kain:
And what use is that?
Vorador:
One who wears the stone cannot be harmed by the Soul Reaver.
Kain:
And is this but a legend, to be proved false at the fatal moment?
Vorador:
Oh no, no legend at all. It has been proven. The Sarafan Lord wore the stone when he defeated you two hundred years ago.
Kain:
What?
Umah:
How else could he have resisted the power of the Soul Reaver? You were unable to use the sword's power, and without it, he was able to defeat you.
Kain:
I shall take the stone, and use it to kill him. But know this. When I recover it, I will also claim ownership of it. I trust that is understood?
Vorador:
Then you commit yourself to fighting the Sarafan Lord? There can be no turning back.
Kain:
I was committed to that from the moment you revived me. Nothing will turn me away.
Vorador:
So be it. You must use the subway to reach the Industrial Quarter which lies in the north-eastern part of the city. Find your way past the gate that blocks the townspeople from entering. But perhaps we may leave that to your invention. Umah?
Umah:
Once in the Quarter, look for the main factory complex. It is there that the stone is held.
Kain:
I will return with the Nexus Stone, and the Sarafan Lord's head.
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