Kain hated himself for contemplating the Shadowed One’s offer. He knew what the dark god asked of the mindless tools he bent to his will.
“Go to hell,” Kain replied, jerking his jaw free of the claws, leaving a thin line of crimson.
The dark god snarled, raising his claw to slash Kain’s face only to stop once their eyes met. He gritted his teeth and withdrew his hand. “Tell me why. Why cast away your life to a shameful death?”
Kane bared his fangs. “It is only shameful if I give in to temptation. You would not understand. You, who turned on your brother in a fit of blind jealousy!”
Barghast growled through clenched teeth. He raised his claws once again, but still hesitated.
Instead, he smiled. “This is not over, Alexander. I will have what is mine. Time may have forgotten the laws you broke, the sins you committed in the name of your ‘righteousness,’ but I have not.”
In a rush of shadow and wind, the dark god disappeared, his laughter lingering in the darkness. The scorch marks on the floor vanished, leaving no trace of his presence.
A feeling of unease filled Kain. Whatever the god had planned for him, it wouldn’t only affect him.
In the wee hours of the morning, Kain woke to find Damien already gone. A note lay folded on the bedside table. Kain opened it to read yet another reminder that Damien wouldn’t give up on his efforts to save him.
Too weak from the fatigue, Kain stayed on his bed facing the window to see the moon through the curtains. The stars glowed bright against the still remaining blackness of the night.
His vision blurred as he fought death to do one last thing.
Gritting his teeth, Kain forced himself to slide off his bed to the floor. The simple action made him wince, gripping his chest as he tried to breathe.
Once he settled on his knees, he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, allowing his mind to drift into a meditative state. His mind was swept into the celestial plane as he called upon Tenebris.
Kain looked up to see the Wolfgod standing above him, his fur white as snow, eyes radiating with the piercing light of the heavens.
“Alexander. It delights my heart to hear your voice again.” Tenebris knelt before Kain, brushing his hair from his face. “You are weakened and weary, my son. Will you not come home and rest beside your forefathers?”
“I cannot,” Kain replied.
Tenebris tilted his head in question, “What is it I can do for you, most noble of knights?”
Kain humbled himself, requesting to change the one he protected. He wanted to continue mentoring someone he thought needed his protection more than his current charge.
Tenebris lowered his head, exhaling crystals of ice. “Alexander, are you sure? I would be unable to repair your body completely.”
Kain nodded.
Tenebris’s eyes misted, his brow lowered in sadness. A soft whimper came from his throat. “As much as it pains my soul to see you suffer so much only to begin again, I will honor your request.”
Tenebris raised his hand, his lips drew back over his fangs in a clenched snarl. He pulled his claws away from Kain’s chest.
A glass orb filled with the last remnants of a red liquid emerged from Kain’s sternum. The lycan looked on while it floated in his god’s hands. The blood of his current chosen all but spent.
Pentacost had shown him drawings while he tried to explain how the “bane” worked. No matter how many times Kain saw it, the orb still seemed surreal.
Once Tenebris held the orb in his claws, Kain fell back to his knees. He gripped his chest, eyes wide and blurred, his heart pounding. “I must collect the blood of your new chosen. Try to endure until I return.”
Tenebris disappeared into a burst of light.
Kain laid down in the fetal position to conserve energy for what seemed like hours.
When Tenebris returned, he knelt to take Kain’s arm to help him sit up. “I have what you need. I ask you again before I do this. Are you sure? You may choose to rest, my son.”
Panting, Kain refused the offer, not wanting to die before his duty was finished. As his ancestor did before him, Kain bade Tenebris to go through with his request.
The god held the orb, now full of the red liquid towards his servant. It melted back into Kain’s chest, replacing the emptiness with the same warmth he’d experienced the first time he’d taken this blood.
Tenebris ordered Kain to kneel before him. “Alexander Kain, last of the Kain line, as per the contract struck with your ancestor. Your blood to be spilled ever before his. Your flesh a shield against the darkness of death and pain. Your life a sacrifice in place of his own. This shall be the norm until death has staked its claim. So, you have asked it. So, shall it be.”
Kain woke up on his floor, gasping. The morning sun shone through the window. The warmth of its rays served as a comfort against the cold of the darkness shrouding his mind only a few hours ago.
Kain got up, dressed, and proceeded to begin the day’s routine. He stepped outside, grinning brightly at the feeling of the warmth of the sun on his face.
When he reached the first of his traps, he could tell something was wrong. The woods around him seemed still compared to the previous day. No animals or birds could be heard, the wind didn’t blow, the smell of the air stagnant and strange. It burned Kain’s sensitive nostrils like the miasma of the Shadowed One.
The hair on the back of Kain’s neck prickled. His body tensed. He whipped his head to the sound of a rustling bush, catching the brief hint of a shadow.
Something lingered in the protection of the forest’s trees. However, for
