The tattered remnants of Raziel’s once proud wings fluttered in a breeze that was cold as death itself and near so cold as that was the moon far above. The stillness of the night shattered by the harsh call of a crow and the sound of wings. It made him long for the possibility of flight, to take advantage of his having traveled into the far past to see Nosgoth and its Pillars in their full splendour laid far below him. If only he had taken the time to fly instead of immediately rushing to Kain and thinking foolishly in his elated state that the elder vampire would be proud.

Green spectral energy trailed from the bird’s wings and ebbed slowly into the Spectral Realm. A strange impulse came over him and compelled to follow the crow he raced after it over jagged black rock and launched himself upon the roughly hewn cliff, pulling himself up slowly claw over claw until finally he had reached the top. An odd sight greeted him, a man pale grey skinned and black haired. Yet he was neither man nor vampire by his seven-some feet of height, the enormous scythes tied at his waist and the pauldron etched with spectral energy that rested upon his shoulder. The crow that he had followed rested upon the man’s shoulder and near to him stood a skeletal horse whose mane and tail were of green fire. One of the Hylden ? No, even from this angle he could see that the man was not possessed, in fact, it seemed that the man’s eyes were gold like Kain’s.

A burst of silver light emerged from a symbol laid into the ground and a leathery winged creature followed after it. The creature’s skin was bright blue as his own, but curving from underneath its hood were the horns of a bull, its teeth were long and its canines exceeded that of a vampire in their length, thickness and sharpness being far more akin to those of a predator. A pair of stunted leathery wings covered in bandages grew from its back. Could this be an ancient Vampyre fallen to ruin or merely a more evolved vampire like his former self ? No matter the answer it was a victory as it meant that his wings had not merely been an aberration, it meant that they had, in fact, been perfectly normal.

The vampire spoke, “It seems, Death, that we have a visitor.”

It prompted the other to turn and muse, “Odd, you’re not like any ghoul I’ve ever summoned.”

“My name is Raziel, and I am not a ghoul. I was once a vampire and am now a reaper of souls under the unfortunate employ of the Elder God.”

Though a cracked white mask obscured Death’s face he was quite sure that Death scowled as he replied. “Elder God ? That parasite is still alive ? It has ruined this world beyond even its origins in Chaos. You will not serve that creature for much longer Raziel. Another time then, Vulgrim.”

So it was that Death mounted his horse, turned and thundered down the ridge a trail of mist lingering briefly after it. For a moment Raziel stared after Death and then turned to Vulgrim.

Vulgrim held up one claw, his wrist which was wrapped in a golden bracer gleamed briefly. “I am neither Vampyre nor Vampire, I am a demon. Would you like to buy some weapons ?”

Raziel sighed, of course, he should be disappointed once again. “No thank you, Vulgrim, the Soul Reaver is the only weapon I need.”

Surely, the fact that the Elder God still existed in the future meant that Death had failed ? Unless, Death now attempted to cause a paradox by killing the Elder God. It was confusing to him and perhaps even to Moebius who had set these things into motion, but who had ever counted on Death himself coming to call ? Surely, not a parasite that called itself an immortal god. Oh, what he would have given to see the panic as a scythe sank into that great eye and forever ended the Wheel of Fate. Vulgrim disappeared back into the symbol and he leaped from the cliff, manually spreading his wings as he shifted into the Spectral Realm. It was time for him to feed, if that meant providing the Elder God one last meal he cared not.