The mysterious visitor was still looking at the floor. His shoes were black, and had silver buckles and a silver protective tip. He wore black pants, and no shirt. His robe hid most of his hands, but I noticed that the hand he had used for balance was clawed. His composure, his aerial maneuver, and the fact that he had claws, notified me of his obvious high evolution, as a vampire. This was definitely not a fledgling. But who could he be?

 

With his head still down, he spoke.

“So we finally meet Kain. The honor is all yours.” His voice sounded juvenile in vampire terms, but it strong never the less. It was sharp, and denoted a large tone range, but what bothered me was his accent. It was similar to that of a human, a villager.

“And who do I owe the pleasure to?” I replied, his accent even more obvious.

He looked up, towards me. His robe covering his face.

“You owe it all to me. Kadiem. Born unto this world a damned soul. Son of the infamous dhampir Claudia, progeny of the almighty Kain. I have come here to seek vengeance for your abandonment of my mother, and I.”

“You know nothing of what you speak child. I am not able to have children. You have been misled, and misinformed. I am not your father, and I have never heard of any ‘Claudia’.”

“It is you who is mistaken. You came to our time seeking to scrutinize the future. That was when you met my mother.”

“Time travel is too vast a subject for you to begin to comprehend. I didn’t directly travel to your time, any one of my future forms could have, but it wasn’t me. So before you are so quick to pass judgment, think about your actions. If you kill me, my future forms will cease to exist, and you will never be born.”

“I wont fall prey to your petty mind tricks Kain, I am here seeking retribution and I shall have it at any cost.”

“Even at the cost of your life?”

“If need be.” He replied.

“Where is the purpose in that? You will achieve nothing but death.”

“You are not as superior as you think you are. I to have powers.”

“Indeed. I have seen your claws. What other strengths do you have hidden away?” I asked.

“Where is the purpose in telling you? You will achieve nothing but death.”

“You’re too sure of yourself little Kadiem. Can you hold your own against the likes of me?”

“You’re just another vampire. All talk, no action. Fresh blood.” Replied Kadiem.

“We’ll see what you have to say when you’re begging for your life.”

“Indeed we shall.”

He took his balancing hand off the floor and removed the hood of his robe. The resemblance between us was uncanny, he had the same jaw line, the same eyebrows and lips. He had large fangs, and a similar chin. The main difference was the ears, his were a lot less pointy, but other wise we could be kin.

 

He stood up, and I was struck by how tall he was. He took the robe off completely, and revealed the rest of his torso. I couldn’t believe what I saw on his chest. A death scar identical to mine.

 

“Where did you get that scar?”

“Like father, like son.”

“If you were born a vampire, you shouldn’t have a scar like that. So how is it that you do?” I replied.

“I wasn’t suppose to be born either, but here I am.”

“You see that is why I don’t believe you. Why, when all paths point to deceit, would I believe that you are my son, born unto this world a vampire? Why wouldn’t I just believe you’re new at the game? Isn’t more comprehendible?”

“Believe what you want, it wont change the fact that you fathered me.”

 

There was too great a resemblance between us. We’re kin, the questions is just how, and in what way? I needed to find that out before I committed myself to anything.

 

“What other ‘proof’ do you have?” I asked.

“But one, my skills as a warrior. They’re unprecedented by most, and far exceed the norm for a vampire of my age.”

“Yet will be dwarfed by a vampire of my exact age.”

“Is that a challenge?” Asked Kadiem.

“I would dare challenge a vampire of such stature?” I said dryly, and sarcastically.

“Lets just wait and see.”

 

If that were Kadiem’s only other proof, I would have to test it. I would have to fight him, but as I wasn’t sure of his heritage, I would have to mainly defend.

 

“If you’re here for revenge, come and get it!”

“If you’re so eager to fight, why not initiate the forthcoming battle?” He replied.

I sniggered.

“Battle? Ha. I would hardly call it that. But never the less, I do have a fight to start, so if you don’t mind, let me show you how a real vampire fights.”

 

I lunged forward, lifting up my right claw, to strike a deathblow aimed at his heart. If he wasn’t truly my son, I would kill him for his insolence.

 

He nimbly jumped out of the way, just in time to avoid my attack. I recoiled my arm, and steadied my balance, awaiting the imminent counter-attack. He was off to my left, and I turned just in time to see him striking. I hadn’t expected it that soon, but I was ready never the less. His foot swung out to strike me in the ribs, but I was prepared, and dodged his onslaught.

 

I faced him, and we both knew one of us was going to have to attack, so I did. I jumped forward, and feinted a punch with my right hand. It worked. He lifted up his left hand to block, weakening his defenses greatly. His left side was now open to attack, so I flung my right leg towards his ribs. He saw the attack coming, and tried to block it, but he was too late. My right foot connected squarely with his ribs, bending his body, at the hips, to his right.

 

I followed through with the kick, and its force soon pushed Kadiem off my leg, and towards the floor. I stood back, and adopted a defensive stance, my right leg behind me and angled away from my body, supporting my weight. My left leg slightly in front, and facing the direction of the looming attack. My right hand slanted down, and protecting my groin, with my left arm in a more vertical position, and in line with my left shoulder. I twisted my body, so that my left shoulder faced the attacker, and my right faced away from the attacker. I was essentially shielding my body from attack, by adopting a left-foot-leading stance.

 

 I had done enough damage to anger him. Now I would see his true strength, not a false manifestation of it. He was getting up off the floor, and amidst the beating I just gave him, he kept his composure. A rare trait. Once he was standing, he used his hand to wipe off some dirt from his face, his other hand was on his ribs, accessing the damage. He then took his hand off his ribs, and prepared for the next stage of the battle.

 

“Hold the pretence Kadiem, show me these so called ‘skills’.”

“We just started, you’ll have to wait a while till I reveal my true powers.” He replied.

“Well, enough talk, attack me already.” I replied.

 

We ran towards me shouting a mad war cry that reeked of hatred. I was ready for his attack, but surprisingly, instead of attacking, he merely stopped a few feet away, in striking range, and took up a more offensive stance. He was also in a left-foot-leading stance, but his right leg was slightly bent, and he was on his toes. Indicating an attack.

 

There was one problem with his stance, most of his weight was on his front leg. One kick to his knee, and his leg would shatter. This was a chance for me to test him. To see if he was an experienced, skilled fighter. If my attack failed, I would be open for his counter-attack, which suited me, because I could then test his attacking strength.

 

I lifted up my left foot, and twisted my body slightly to my right. Then I bent my left knee, pulled it towards my right knee, simultaneously lifting up my left foot even more. I then furiously forced my left foot, towards his left knee. The kick had a hooking effect, and should have struck the outer side of his knee. But it turned out that he was an adept fighter. For as my foot neared its target, he lunged to his left, out of danger.

 

I quickly moved my foot down to the floor, so as to stop me losing my balance, and this was the chance Kadiem needed. My legs were far apart, but my weight was still evenly distributed. My back and right side were open to attack, and I didn’t have time to defend them.

 

His claws sliced into my right side, digging into my ribs, luckily it wasn’t a deep piercing, but it was deep enough. My body impulsively moved away, and tensed up the point of impact. I was struck again, in the same place. The tensed muscles being stuck by a powerful blow caused them to clench even more, to my agony. Luckily I had also impulsively turned my body to face Kadiem, and I saw the third swipe coming at me. My left arm was still in a defensive position, and I used that to my advantage.

 

I managed to swing it down, and deflect the third strike aimed at my stomach. I proceeded to dart backwards, out of the line of fire. But I was followed.

 

 I needed to gain some time to recover, and get into a more appropriate stance. So as the forth strike unwisely moved towards my chest, I lifted up my left arm, and grabbed his right hand. I pulled it towards me, and jumped forward to my right.

 

The pull made Kadiem lose his balance, and resulted in him stumbling forward. I still had a grip on his arm, and was pushing it away from me, out to my left. The maneuver left my right fist free, and his whole body open to attack. I had his outstretched arm to my left, and the rest of his body was in front of me, and in striking distance of my right fist.

 

To try and gain more balance, Kadiem had put his left arm down, reaching for the ground. This left his neck open, and was just the opportunity I needed. I pulled my right arm back, and readied a punch, then let it fly at his neck.

 

It impacted with great force, and jolted his head and shoulders. To get him away from me, I straightened both my arms, and propelled his body away from me. His right side was heading for a collision course with the marble floor, and it looked as if his head was going to whip lash, and force his head back into the ground with added force.

 

He had turned his body slightly, so that the front of his right shoulder hit the ground. As it hit, I saw the beginnings of the whip lash effect. The rest of his body hit the ground, and once his head hit, it was whipped up again, then forced back into the ground for a second time. It looked painful, and was sure to anger him even more.

 

He was more powerful than I had expected, and I didn’t want to kill him until I had found out vital information. But I did need to defend myself, but how much before I killed Kadiem?