Chapter 6: The Last Obstacle

Lilly appeared in the medical room, bleeding from her mouth. 'Dear child!' the doctor was on his feet immediately. 'Not on the linen!' Patricia had heard about the return of Lilly and how, by all reports, the priest had "beat the crap out of her". 'He…He had magick!' she whimpered as the doctor dealt with her wounds. 'He's not allowed to have magick!'
'Do be quiet, girl. I'm thinking.' Patricia snapped at her as she paced around. 'It is obvious that the demon has granted him power in exchange for his soul.'
'Yes...Yes that's it.' Lilly agreed with a nervous laugh.

'This is the last one?' Sam demanded as she trudged her weary body through the ruins of an old city. 'Yes.' Zack replied, easily keeping up with her. 'Where is Argus?' They both looked around before Sam wanted a question answered that had bugged her. 'Why is it that with each Colossus we kill, there seems to be more greenery around?' the dead tree she had passed on the way to dealing with Malus, they had passed again, was now alive and flourishing with flowers and ripe fruits. 'Why do you think?' Zack wondered with a small smirk. 'Dormin?'
'Yep.' Zack nodded back before the ground shook. 'Here comes the last one!' Zack laughed gleefully before a massive hand reached up the side of a cliff. 'This is it, Sam! Stay focused!'

'…I want explosives planted here, here and here.' Patricia ordered as she pointed to various parts of a map. 'We're going to collapse the valley and cause a landslide that'll stop them from getting out. The bridge there has been gone for quite a few centuries, so there's no way for them to get out.' She turned to Lilly 'Lilly, are you up for round two?'
'Ready.' She said as she cracked her fingers. 'This time, I'll kick the crap out of HIM.'

'C'mon big guy!' Argus looked around for the source of the voice, the Colossus looked up to see Zack floating a few feet above them, shadowy wings beating powerfully, keeping him airborne. Argus tried to swat Zack while Sam panted as she climbed up the Colossus. 'Ugh…When I'm done with this. I have GOT to go on a holiday…' she gasped, breathless.
'Samantha! Today would be nice!' Zack demanded as he flittered around the Colossus' head.
Sam snarled as she held the blade between her teeth so she could use both hands for climbing. 'Finally!' Zack gasped as Sam emerged onto Argus' head and rammed the blade into his skull. She took her anger out on the final Colossus; 'I have been soaked through multiple times!' STAB! 'I have risked drowning and fatal electrocution!' STAB! 'I have nearly plummeted from lethal heights!' STAB! 'Crushed!' STAB! 'THIS HAD BETTER BE WORTH IT!' she screamed before delivering the finishing blow. Sam wrenched the sword free as Argus began to plummet, she began to f ne
BOOM! The temple shook from nearby explosions, dust and rocks fell from the ceiling and hit the ground near the two lying figures. Soft boot steps could be heard as a dark coated figure walked over to them, blue eyes watched them resting. They turned suddenly to look at the stairs; a flicker of wonder crossed their shadowy features before they began ascending the stairs. They reached the doorway that looked out beyond the ruined bridge. Curious, they reached, as though trying to feel beyond the doorway. A barrier of energy appeared and blasted them backwards. They fell head over arse down the stairs before coming a rest on the ground floor and dissolving into shadows again. BOOM! 'Ugh?' Sam groaned as she opened her eyes, a small rock had hit her arm. Zack was lying next to her, not moving. Worry crossed her face as he did not respond to her wake-up shaking. She listened gently to his breathing, at least he was. Suddenly Sam was aware of another presence in the room, the same distinct feeling of being watched, but now it had become even more powerful. They raised a hand and pointed to the staircase. 'Go.' Their deep voice boomed around the temple.
'Why don't you leave? You've been following me and- and watching me, but you don't leave! Why don't you just take what you want and leave?' Sam demanded.
'We cannot leave these lands.'
'What does that mean?'
'Foolish mortals, in the presence of something greater then thyself, they act like children; terrified. Fear initiates savagery. Savagery binds thy heart. Thy heart leads on a path to recklessness. Recklessness leads to destruction and blind faith. Blind faith leads to-'
'Your binding.' Sam realised, they nodded in reply.
'Beyond these lands, fools think themselves safe and superior to thou, Samantha. Their blind faith binds Us to these lands. We cannot leave these lands, but Our essence can. Only once some part of Us is free of these lands, when it contacts the ground not of Our prison. Will We be free.'
' What does that mean?' Sam demanded before they faded away. Shrugging at the God's enigmas, she turned back and shook Zack again. 'Zack…Hey…Zack-' She fell back on her backside as Zack sat up with a gasp. 'You…You had me worried.' She sighed.
'It was all the essence, it I can feel it, coursing through my veins, feeding my powers.'
'Hi!' A familiar chirping voice called out.
'Ugh…Not her again.' Sam groaned as Lilly waved at them from the base of the stairs.

After Zack had given her another serving of her just desserts she looked at them both spitefully. 'You will die here, in the dark.' She hissed as she backed away, slowly vanishing into the light behind her 'You will not see the light again…'
'Pft. You always talk of power! And you always run away!' Zack yelled at her. 'We ARE getting out of here with Dormin!' BOOM! This explosion was the loudest yet. It shook their bones and made the remains of shattered idols shake. 'THAT's IT!' Zack stormed up the stairs, his anger boiling over, the aura around him was bright and crackled with energy. 'I've had it!' Sam followed, at a distance, she had the feeling Zack had lost his sense of self and was now totally berserk. 'I have had it…With their "mightier than thou" attitude…Their accusation of anything that is not with them as "evil"…Their child-like, clear cut definitions of morality…' Zack snarled through gritted teeth. When he reached the top of the stairs and saw that their only way out had been destroyed, he threw back his head and let out an animalistic, bellowing ethereal roar; a sound that terrified Samantha and all who heard it. 'Zack…' Sam gently put a hand on his shoulder and his anger subsided immediately. 'We are getting out of here.' He said quietly. The still standing supports, the ruins of the bridge glowed brightly. 'What was once here can be made again…' he assured himself. Sam and Zack watched as a bright light spread across the surface of the ruins, when it faded, the bridge had been reconstructed in glowing bricks. 'Quickly!' Zack grabbed her and dragged her across the long bridge. 'While the power holds!'

Deep inside the temple, Dormin waited. They gently tapped the sole of their boot against the floor as They waited, knowing that the witch's feeble binding spells would soon be gone. 'Neither man, nor woman, can fight a god…' they assured themselves with a chuckle. 'What are witches, but mortals who spin their feeble spells into the lives of others? We have been here too long, now we will finally be free. Fire and brimstone will rain down on those who imprisoned us…' They stopped and folded their arms, considering something. 'But what of those who help us? What reward can be given to show our gratitude?'

'Insolent child!' Patricia Black slapped Lilly around the head. 'We had one chance to seal him away! ONE chance to save things for another two thousand years! And now it's GONE!' She hit Lilly again who hit the ground, whimpering.
'I- I tried!' she sniffed. 'But...The priest...H-he's grown too strong.'
'Nonsense child!' Patricia snorted as she gave the girl another kick for her failure, somewhat startling the crying witch (Sorry, couldn't resist). 'The priest is serving a false god, he has no power.'
'You try saying that after having half your skin cursed off...' Lilly replied under her breath.

'They're all gone?' Sam gasped as they entered the deserted village, as she had feared, everyone was gone. 'Just like the vision...'
'Alas!' Both of them spun around to face a man in a white suit. 'The village that was here is now gone, it's glory to the past! But…' he stopped and smiled 'Now their souls are free, while some memories remain here.' He cupped and ear. 'If you listen carefully, you can hear their voices still. Do you hear voices, Zack? What do they tell you?'
'Right now, they tell me to break your neck.' Zack snarled.
'Oo…So violent. Where are manners? You should show respect to your superiors-'
'YOU ARE NOT MY SUPERIOR!' Zack's voice was another ethereal roar. The man smirked. Zack was so blinded by anger that only Sam could hear the sound of engines approaching. Her eyes went wide as she saw a military chopper, armed with missiles and several large mounted turrets. 'Err…Uh-oh.' She gasped as she shook Zack's shoulder until he noticed it. 'So what? We'll bring it down…'

'HA!' Zack yelled as he cast a barrage of spells, strong winds and lightning bolts were sent spiralling towards the chopper, it swerved to avoid them. 'AGH!' both Sam and Zack were caught in the blast from the missile. 'Sam?' he wondered, looking at the girl next to her, not moving. Was she…Dead? 'No…' Zack whispered before feeling deep inside himself; latching onto to Dormin's shadowy essence. 'We survive!' he demanded before casting his spell. Sam's body was picked up off the ground by an unseen force and she choked loudly as her heart was forced to start beating again. She clutched her chest in pain before realising where she was again. 'T-thanks.' She whispered.

Sam had, one moment been lying on the muddy ground, feeling her life slipping away. The next she was warm and dry. She was standing in an endless field of flowers, a clear blue sky above. She wasn't breathing, but she didn't care. She didn't need to. It was so peaceful here. She heard soft footsteps behind her and turned to look at who it was. A shifting shadow, a shade of the land. Soft darkness and a glaring bright light seemed to radiate from them. 'You... You're-' but before she could finish her sentace, she was dragged by the back of her neck from the earth and left on the soggy ground once more, choking and breathing loudly. Had she just seen the afterlife?

The man in white stared open mouthed at the smouldering wreck that had been a military chopper. He glanced over at Sam who was flexing her sword arm, he turned and ran. 'That's right! Run home to your leader!' Zack barked at him before hearing a groaning and walked over to the chopper's pilot who was still barely alive, having been impaled on a large shard to metal. Zack crouched down and the pilot's eyes went wide. 'Shh..' Zack whispered 'Eyes open now. I want to watch you slip away.' He finished in a demented hiss. He's a Psychopomp for Dormin… Sam thought. (A psycho pomp is a person or deity who grants safe passage to the afterlife, but in Zack's case, he's just being a bit too heavy handed with Dormin's darker nature. I think. )

'They're here! They're coming here!' the man in white yelped as he ran into the base. 'Seal the base!'
The secretary spat out her ice tea again before hitting a button under the desk. 'Lockdown!' A blast doors slammed down over the doors and windows of the base, the lights flickered on to bright blanket lighting. She watched the front door on the monitor, it stood still before a massive inward dent appeared on it, then another, then another. Suddenly static covered the camera and she heard a distant explosion. 'uh-oh.' She gulped before running.

'Now friends, we must pray.' Patricia stated as they all crouched down in prayer. 'Know that anyone's name not found to be written in the Book of Light will have their body burnt and severed from all existence as their soul is fed to the demon, causing all loss of self.' She stated in her usual tone. 'But we are protected! It is our Lady's soul that guides us, she who ascended to godhood-' BOOM! Dust fell from the rafters and littered the hair of her congregation; the doors into the sanctum were blasted off their hinges. Revealing Sam with a rocket launcher. 'Hiya!' she grinned in Lilly's tone of voice. 'Just thought I'd drop in, sorry about the mess, but your doors were locked.' Sam's eyes twitched as she saw the stark blandness of the room. 'Sorry. Did I break up your little prayer session?'
'Ra, Yinepu, Djehuti, Bast, Osiris, Herne, Lugus, Balor….' Zack rattled off the names of gods as he followed Sam into the sanctum. 'Dormin.' He finished and there came a few hisses from the congregation. ' Why would they, divine beings that go beyond our understanding, why would they want someone likethe woman you follow?' he wondered, in a flash and rush of shadows he was inches away from Patricia's nose. 'Hm?' he asked her.
'Our lady gave up her life to assure that the demon-'
'" Our lady…" Blah, blah, blah…' Zack repeated in a high pitched, whining voice. 'And what about your hero, Emon, your knight in shining armour…No… Look at you! You people have allowed your beliefs to corrupt you! You slaughter millions of innocent people just because they seem like they are not with you. It is you who are the demons.'
'Heresy…' Black spat as her body shook with rage, nails digging into her palms. 'Execute him!' she ordered. Lilly got there first. 'This is my revenge!' she cackled before there came a flash of steel. Lilly sliced his neck open. 'Ack!' Zack clutched at the wound as Sam felt her blood freeze. Lilly let out a cheer as she dropped the knife to the floor. Unaware of the dark, oily like blood that was on the blade. Drip. A single droplet fell from the blade and touched the marble floor. "Only once some part of Us is free of these lands, when it contacts the ground not of Our prison. Will We be free." Sam recalled that. Was this what Dormin meant? Did they know this would happen?
'...A fear that you do not understand.' Zack stated before his voice went as bitter as venom. 'I will be damned if I let you trap Dormin again...'

That little droplet of blood on the floor was starting to grow and spread. Becoming a pool that no-one had yet noticed. Soon it became vast and people began to notice the darkening marble and backed away into the edges of the room. Sam felt the temperature drop and shivered as her breath steamed up and the sky outside darkened as storm clouds gathered. She could make out Zack's eyes, they seemed to glow in the dark. Lighting came on immediatly, illuminating the room where daylight had failed. Zack stood perfectly still, one gloved hand clamped over the bleeding slash in his neck. He winced in pain as the tattoos "bled out" spilling more of the oily substance onto the floor. When they had finished, his skin was unmarred as though they had never been there. Out of the oily blood spilled from the tattoos, sixteen shadowy figures rose. Blurred and distorted, their humanoid forms gave no distinct appearence, they merely wandered over to the large pool, as though each movement was an event. Black, Lilly and her congregation took a step back as a colossal black clawed hand emerged from the pool and grabbed the marble floor with a crunch.

The screams arose and shook the halls, Zack watched them with contempt, Sam could tell that under the hood, he was smirking. Self satisfaction etched on his features as more of the shadowy beast emerged. The seperate shadows waded through the pool and into the creature she could almost name... Zack moved forwards several steps, for room, as the beast grew until it was scraping the roof of the sanctum. As large as a colossus, it's hulking frame filled the sanctum, the same electric blue eyes she had seen so many times. Dormin spoke with a chilling male voice. 'Thou has served us well, priest.' Zack acknowledged this with a nod, but did not turn to face Dormin, he instead lowered his hand from his throat as the skin pulled itself back together, sealing the wound. Sam looked at his eyes again; a soft, yet somewhat sadened chocolate brown. The electric blue had gone, his power and bound faith no longer rested with Dormin. Zack shook his hood down and moved over to Sam. Then Dormin turned their attention to Patricia Black, her eyes wide and mouth agapae, seeing a creature she had only had nightmares of.'So. You are finally out of your prison. But... Your preist. The man you decieved. The person who stands before us... Is no longer a human being, nor the son of a family. He is... A monster, shaped by you alone. Livane whispered, she told me... only this; you gave him another life, just so you could have a chance at freedom.' she spoke without an ounce of fear in her voice. For now. She let out a wailing scream as Dormin grabbed her with one clawed hand and brought her to eye level. 'My Lady... Livane.' Patricia whispered as she looked up at the mural on the ceiling, a woman in white with flowing blonde hair. 'Save us...' she pleaded. Her faith might have been strong, but it didn't stop Dormin from crushing her like a bug. Zack and Sam took a quick backstep to avoid the blood that was splattered.

Lilly finally came to her senses after seeing her superior ending up splattered all over the sanctum. 'You bastard!' she demanded before chanting curse after curse, Dormin did not even acknowledge that the witch was trying her most powerful spells. Giving up, she turned around and headed towards the doors out of the Sanctum. 'Going somewhere?' Zack's glare of seething hatred froze her where she stood. He stood at the exit/ entrance. A shield of glowing energy prevented anyone from leaving. Dormin was getting their revenge.