The fall of the Ancient God

Kain (vo): I awoke to find myself in a shadowy realm. A disquieting stillness lay where my heart had been - the heart that had belonged to Janos Audron all along. How was it possible that I still lived?

Hylden 1: You are still fair of form, vampire…

Hylden 2: That will go first…

Hylden 3: This realm will render you hideous…

Hylden 2: You will go mad, and will not know it…

Kain: What is this place?

Hylden 1: Do you not think of this place every day, vampire?

Hylden 2: Or are we truly forgotten.

Hylden 2: We were forgotten…

Hylden 1: This is the exile into which we were driven –

Hylden 3: But soon now, soon we will be free…

Hylden 2: We will be free.

After ridding himself of those demons, Kain manages to return from the demon dimension…

Kain (vo): I felt strongly drawn - compelled, even - not to linger here, but to go to the Vampire Citadel, at once.

Once clear of the catacombs of Avernus Cathedral, Kain returns to the Vampire Citadel…

Kain (vo): I knew what ominous hour this was in Nosgoth’s history. For here was the event that had shaped my entire existence…

I had cast my fate, refusing the sacrifice, damning the Pillars, and founding my doomed empire upon their ruins. I would raise the Sarafan priests to be my closest lieutenants, and would one day cast the strongest of them, my servant Raziel, into the abyss - dealing one last hand to play against Fate.

But in the end, had it made any difference? Had I misread the signs, as Moebius told me? In my arrogance, had I missed my cast at destiny?

Venturing into the Spirit Forge, Kain spots Moebius at the far end of the chamber…

Moebius: The Hylden are merely an inconvenient consequence. They will be dealt with in time. It’s a small price to pay for Kain’s death.

Kain: You’re a bit premature.

Moebius: Kain!?

Kain: Is there a crack in your omniscience after all, Moebius?

Moebius attempts to strike Kain with his staff, but it no longer seems to have any effect…

Kain: First your omniscience, and now your powers. You are slipping badly.

Moebius: This is not possible…

Kain: The part of me that staff affected is no longer in its place. But you already knew that, didn’t you.

I always was considered heartless. And now, Moebius, it is time.

Moebius: To kill me? Again? Your only solution, for every problem: kill -

Kain: This is not a debate. You see, this time, you have nothing that I want.

Kain kills Moebius for the second time, running him through with the Reaver…

Moebius: Aaarrgghh!! You think this will matter?… …I serve One who has power over life and death.

Kain: Then go to him.

Moebius: I am His obedient… his devoted servant… soon, all pain will fade, and my master will bring me life once more.

Moebius appears in the underworld…

Moebius: Master, my apologies, a momentary oversight. Somehow Kain still lives, and has unexpectedly dispatched me. Make use of your good servant, and –

There, Raziel in turn runs Moebius through with his wraith blade…

Raziel: Go to your master, then. I release you to the Wheel.

Pierced by the purified Soul Reaver, Moebius sees the Elder God for the first time…

Moebius: Ohh… god - no …

Raziel: Do you see it now? The monster that you served? Is this what you imagined when you worshipped it?

Moebius: No…

Raziel: And in that knowledge, go - and feed it. I release you.

Raziel devours Moebius’s soul…

Elder god: Your petty actions are irrelevant, Raziel. Moebius was a good servant, but he was of no further use. His long life had run its course. You see? Even when you rebel, you are doing my will.

Raziel: Perhaps, but something has changed, hasn’t it? You didn’t foresee Kain’s return.

Elder god: You have both traced your paths along the Wheel - this is where the journey ends.

Raziel: You haven’t the means to kill either one of us.

Elder god: Ah, but you can be stopped. And you will come to understand how oblivion can be a mercy. You and Kain will spend eternity buried here together, praying for the merciful release of a death that will never come.

Raziel (vo): But I was armed with newfound knowledge, and it burned within me…

Janos Audron (vo): …redeemer and destroyer…

Raziel (vo): Moebius had never seen his master until the Soul Reaver purified his sight. Even the ancient Vampires had no idea what it was they so righteously worshipped.

Ariel (vo): …you must unite what has been set asunder…

Raziel (vo): All the conflict and strife throughout history, all the fear and hatred, served but one purpose - to keep my master’s Wheel turning. All souls were prisoners, trapped in the pointless round of existence, leading distracted, blunted lives until death returned them - always in ignorance - to the Wheel.

Kain (vo): …the coin is still turning…

Raziel (vo): But what hope had there been? One cannot fight the unseen.

Ariel (vo): …only then will the Scion of Balance be armed for his true endeavor…

Elder god: Despair, Raziel. There is no escape.

Raziel (vo): It was then I knew what I had to do. I alone could end this.

In the material realm, Moebius’s corpse rises…

Moebius (Raziel): Kain…

Hearing this, Kain lunges at Moebius’s body and pins it to the wall with the Reaver…

Kain: Do you so enjoy death–

Raziel fully enters the material realm and reveals his true form…

Moebius (Raziel): Yes…

Kain: Raziel? - No -

Raziel: Yes - this is how…

Kain: No, Raziel!

Raziel: The Soul Reaver… pure of all corruption… this is what it is for. This is what I am for… The two become one - both Soul Reavers - together - and the Scion of Balance is healed. And I – am not your enemy - not your destroyer - I am, as before, your right hand. Your sword.

Kain: No, Raziel - this can’t be the way…

Raziel: And now you will see… the true enemy…

The Reaver completely consumes Raziel’s soul and he is trapped within it…

Kain: Raziel –

Kain (vo): And it was then – I saw.

Elder god: So… I am revealed to you at last.

Kain: What in hell…

Elder god: I am the origin of Life… the devourer of Death. I am the hub of the Wheel, the purifying cycle to which all souls must be drawn.

Kain (vo): Had I condemned Raziel to this nightmare when I cast him into the abyss?

Elder god: You may ponder the futility of your ambitions as you spend a deathless eternity beneath a mountain of rubble.

You and your Soul Reaver will go equally mad as the eons pass. The Citadel of the apostates will become your living tomb.

Kain: Your words are heartening - for you would not fear us unless we could truly do you harm.

Elder god: No! You are nothing!

Kain: False god. This is the end - the final turn of your Wheel.

The battle between Kain and the Elder God begins…

Elder god: You will never break from the Wheel of Fate.

Submit to my will…

You will never defeat me, Kain.

Feed the Wheel.

I have endured your game long enough!

You will never escape!

This is futile.

I will bury you.

Pathetic creature!

This defiance is pointless.

Surrender Kain.

Your sacrifice has been made in vain, Raziel.

I will crush you, vampire!

Your broken body will be buried here for all eternity.

That almost hurt.

Enough!

This cannot be!

You cannot defeat me.

No!

Nooo! This cannot be!

Kain emerges victorious and escapes before the chamber collapses…

Elder god: You cannot destroy me, Kain - I am the Engine of Life itself. The Wheel will turn… The plague of your kind will be purged from this world… And on that inevitable day, your wretched, stagnant soul will finally be mine.

Kain: In the meantime, you’d best burrow deep.

Kain returns to the upper chamber and surveys the ruined Pillars in the distance…

Kain (vo): Now, at last, the masks had fallen away. The strings of the puppets had become visible, and the hands of the prime mover exposed. Most ironic of all was the last gift that Raziel had given me, more powerful than the sword that now held his soul, more acute even than the vision his sacrifice had accorded me.

The first bitter taste of that terrible illusion: Hope.