Wondering what he is running from, Kayne chances a look behind him. A large rock-like hand penetrates through the darkness, trying to envelop him in its grasp. In utter horror, he swings the overly large and ridiculously heavy longsword backwards at the encroaching hand. The gigantic hand slices in half, ripping apart and spraying a shower of blood everywhere, bathing him in crimson. Kayne stands there gasping for breath, looking around through the light-less void engulfing him.
A set of eyes pierces through the darkness, as a Rock Giant materializes around them from the depths of a foggy abyss. Terrified, Kayne turns away to flee the enormous humanoid, only to see a man sitting before him atop a mound of bones petting a large black haired dog and he freezes abruptly. "Father! Father help me!" Kayne yells to the man, who remains sitting there idly petting the dog. "Father, my sword is of no use against this monster. Help me! FATHER!" He continues to yelp helplessly, pleading for Maxus to acknowledge his peril.
"Do not talk nonsense, boy." He retorts nonchalantly, "Do you not remember, I am no longer alive in your world." He stands to face the boy that is paralyzed with fear before him and growls vengefully, "You killed me that night when you pushed me into my own blade. I was in agony. You ran away and I died!" Suddenly the man lets out a gasp of pain, as his chest opens up, spouting out blood like a fountain of death straight into Kayne's trembling figure. More blood...
"Father! Please listen, I was..." The giant hand suddenly rains down from the sky, pinning Kayne beneath its overwhelming size and weight. He lets out cries of helplessness and terror while his father stands there calmly, the blood continuing to pour from the open wound in his chest. "You were the one that deserved to die, not Lilia!" As he says this, several skeletal beings, bathed in a dark red light sprout up from the boney mound, chanting as they stand above the child's pinned body. "You should have died... You should have died... You should have died..."
Squirming, he lets out a bloodcurdling scream, "I am sorry, Father! FORGIVE ME!!!"
The dreamworld fades to black and a soft version of Maxus' voice states, "I am not, nor was I ever your father..." The last few words are spoken in a malevolent tone, viciously assaulting Kayne's consciousness like a million daggers piercing his heart, "You are alone in this world..."
---
The swordsman awakened with a start, covered in a cold sweat. His wrists hurt like hell and he couldn't help but grasp them individually and clench and release his hands trying to relieve the discomfort. The runic bands he had since childhood were always a mystery to him, but pain was never something associated with them before.
Kayne glanced around the dark spartan quarters of his room warily, searching for signs of a magic wielding tormentor before he settled his head back into the pillow. The warrior stared blankly at the ceiling for several hours, unable to fall back to sleep.