"We must put a stop to this." A figure shrouded in gold robes and matching hood that covered his head spoke as he entered a large round room. In the middle of the room was a large round table made of thick wood. Around the room hanging on the wall were pictures of all of the members of The Crusaders Guild. The chairs and pictures went nearly all the way around the room except for a quarter of the table at the back of the room. On that wall they hung the photos of those they lost in the war against the gargoyles.
"We haven't had any trouble out of him in over a decade. I think that he can be trusted." One of the members dressed in gold advised.
"We cannot turn against him. That would put him and the dragon queen on the side of the gargoyles." Another member pointed out. "Right now they are staying neutral and I think we should allow them to continue to live in peace." The other members nodded.
"If we do nothing to provoke them they will have no reason to turn on us." Another member pointed out. The leader growled and slammed his gavel down on the table.
"It was that kind of thinking that has led us to the troubles we have now." The leader said irritably. "Remember when Renard started this group he told to beware because even we may fall for these creatures charms."
"Do you really think that we can win if they side with the gargoyles?" The man to his right scoffed.
"Of course not, that's why we are going to kill them tonight." The leader informed him. The room became silent and after a few moments the leader began to speak again. "It takes two officers to make this order so I ask you now who will stand with me and do what needs to be done." He looked around the room and the man to his right slowly rose to his feet.
"You've always been right Jason. We will follow you now as we always have." He said after a moment.
"Thank you, Geoffrey." Jason said before he picked up the phone. "You are green to go." He said before hanging it back up.
"Who did we hire for this job?" Geoffrey asked curiously after a moment.
"Jackal, Hyena, and Wolf" The leader advised. "Unfortunately, Fox decided to retire from that life." Before anyone could ask anything further the lights went out and the red emergency lights began to shine in the room along with a nearly deafening alarm that began to sound throughout the building. They started to rush for the door but then they heard the screams and gun shots coming from the other side. Jason reached for the phone but realized quickly that whoever or whatever was attacking them had cut the phone lines. The sounds of battle ceased for a few moments and everything seemed eerily silent until they heard a loud explosion outside of the door and the door buckled with a large dent appearing in the center.
"That's impossible no one can get through that door." Just as Geoffrey spoke the door flew off of its hinges as the result of another explosion and crushed the young man between it and the wall behind him. Jason's face paled visibly when he saw Demona drop the bazooka she was holding. The battle to the top of the Crusaders tower had taken a toll on her and Jason noticed that she was hardly able to stand. She had cuts and gunshot wounds in several places on her body. Her right wing had nearly been torn off; she had large gashes on her left leg and both her arms. Her golden armor that she wore in place of her halter top and loin cloth was soaked in blood. A lot was hers but much of it came from her foes as well. Her eyes flared red as she limped towards them and it was then that Jason could see it was pure determination and will that was helping her move forward. She reached the doorway and she eyed everyone in the room.
"You killed him!" She growled. "I'm…here to finish this." She roared barely able to maintain her composure. All the men lifted their guns and pointed it towards her and she laughed. "You think that will save you now? I've been waiting centuries for this Jason." Using what little strength she had left she drew a grenade from her pocket and hurled it into the room as she dropped to the floor and drew two laser pistols from each side of her waistband. The last of the Crusaders leapt out of the way of the grenade and she opened fire. The explosion killed several of the men in the room and with new found adrenaline Demona rose to her feet and rushed into the room as fast as her damaged body would allow her to. Dropping the pistols, she grabbed two large maces that were strapped to her back and swung one to her left smashing the skull of one man who crumpled to the ground and turned to her right to swing again but she felt intense pain that caused her to scream as a sword was run through her chest.
"Any last words, monster." Jason said as he withdrew the sword and held it over her heart. Demona nodded weakly as she leaned against the wall and slowly made her way to the ground. She glared at him and pulled a device from her belt it was a small black box with a red button.
"Just one…Boom." She grinned at Jason's horrified expression and pushed the button before he could snatch the detonator. The ground rumbled and the room suddenly went white. "Goodbye my love." She whispered.
…
Drexia woke next to Macbeth and quietly left the room as she sniffed the air and she picked up the mace Macbeth had left for her in case she'd ever need it. She turned and swung at the source of the strange but familiar scent.
"It's over, Drexia. Macbeth dies tonight but you don't have to. Come with me and I can protect you." Drexia glared at the newcomer and her eyes turned gold as several gunshots rang through the air and fire streamed from her lips.
…
Drexia and the gargoyles along with Vivienne, Gilcomgain and Xena arrived at the edge of the forest just outside of Duncan's castle. When they landed the Fates appeared in front of them.
"Be wary, if you enter into Duncan's domain you will succeed." The blonde fate advised.
"Be wary, that by succeeding you will set the course of the future." The black-haired fate advised.
"Be wary, that the mighty river will not alter its course once it's set." The white haired fate advised.
"Be wise in your choices and you might still avoid the blood and death your futures hold." They said in unison before they disappeared.
The group looked at each other for answers to what they just heard but no one had any. The gargoyles climbed the nearby trees to get enough height and Drexia flapped her wings to join them as they glided high above the castle walls. They saw that Macbeth was being led to where he would be hanged. Knowing there wasn't much time
"Dive now." Demona ordered and the group began to dive towards Duncan's men. After they watched them begin to dive Xena, Vivienne, and Gil waited until the guards at the gate ran inside and they heard the sounds of battle emanating from within the castle walls.
"Weren't they supposed to wait?" Gil asked, chuckling. The group quickly rushed for the gates and they stumbled on two of Duncan's soldiers that were out doing patrols. Before the soldiers could draw their swords Xena and Gil quickly ran them through with their own blades as Vivienne ran past them. Xena and Gil hurried forward through the castle gates and when they got through they watched in disbelief as the gargoyles were shredding Duncan's army.
"We have to hurry." Xena pointed out as she noticed the arrow sticking out of Demona's shoulder and she felt a white hot rage that started to flow through her limbs. Vivienne and Gil watched in awe as Xena began to turn a pale white and her arms and legs turned into those of a gargoyle. She groaned in pain as she began to grow her fangs and she nearly screamed as her bone structure changed to allow her wings and tail to grow. She shook her head to clear it then she saw a soldier coming up behind her sister and she raced forward to attack. On her way forward, she saw that Macbeth was slipping from the small box he was trying to maintain his balance on. His hands were tied and a noose was around his neck. Just as his feet slipped Xena's chakram sliced through the rope and she caught it again as she flipped forward and delivered a kick to the soldier that was attacking Demona. The force of the kick knocked him to the ground.
"I thought you were going to wait for us." Xena reminded her sister. Demona grinned back.
"There wasn't time, but it would appear that the plan is working anyway." Demona replied. One of Duncan's men ran forward and fell to the ground with an arrow sticking out of the back of his neck. Demona and Xena looked up and grinned when they saw Vivienne standing on top of the battlements firing arrows at as many soldiers as she could. Once Macbeth was clear Drexia separated the two groups with a fire barrier.
"That's enough killing!" Drexia stated sternly. Duncan eyed his favorite pet in shock as he watched his men back away from her.
"You've turned against me too." Duncan shouted as the rage began to consume him. She glared at him then and Demona thought she saw her wink at her.
"If I turn against you then you will die. I am saving as many of your people as I can now. We can finish this fight another day." Drexia snarled and turned towards Demona and Xena. "All of you leave here and take the three days it takes to prepare your souls for their final journey." Demona helped Macbeth to stand and Xena changed back into human form and they ran from the castle, the fire barrier being the only thing that kept Duncan's forces from pursuing.
"What took you so long?" Gil asked impatiently.
"We had to go around the long way." Xena answered after taking a moment to catch her breath.
"We should have known that she would betray us." Vivienne said as she stepped closer to Gil.
"No, I think she just saved our lives and told us when to expect the next attack." Demona said after a moment. "Now, we need to prepare because Duncan will be attacking us in the next three days."
…
"Are you feeling better my lady?" Oberon asked as Titania slowly sat up. Titania looked around for a moment as if she were confused.
"Where am I?" Titania asked and then the memory of what happened came flooding back to her. "The spell worked?" She asked as she looked back and forth between Oberon and Puck. "What happened to the baby?" Puck and Oberon looked at each other for a moment.
"The infection has been completely removed." Oberon informed her after a moment. Titania was happy for a moment but something inside her felt as though something was missing.
"We need to get out of here." Puck said urgently. "With how powerful that spell was it was sure to attract attention."
"You're correct about that, Fey." Macbeth interrupted as he walked into the room. "C'mon, let's go before those bastards find out where we are. They quickly left the apartment and headed for Macbeth's safe house.
"Why are you helping us?" Titania asked through gritted teeth. She was still in pain after the spell and it was beginning to take a toll on her.
"Someone has to do something. Their leaders have become insane." Macbeth heard a rustling from a nearby alley and drew his sword and laser pistol. "Keep going. I'll check this out."
"Be careful. I would help you but any more magic will draw Lucifer straight to us." Puck said. Macbeth nodded and they quickly left. He turned towards the alley and took a few steps down it.
"I know you're there. Come out and face me, coward." Macbeth said menacingly. He couldn't tell who it was that was moving but by the silhouette of the wings he knew it was a gargoyle.
"You are a fool Macbeth. You turned against the rulers to die with the ruled." The voice was familiar to him and he smirked.
"The war is not over yet and you betray your own kind by helping those maniacs hunt them down. You have no honor. You mistakenly joined the Pack thinking that they will save you in the end, and I am going to finish this like I should have long ago only this time she's not here to protect you is she." The gargoyle growled and leaped forward so fast he appeared to be a streak of blue. Macbeth grinned and opened fire.
…
"I still don't understand why I had to stay behind." Cold-Fire said irritably to Demona when they got back to Castle Moray.
"I didn't want to leave this place without protection in case it was a trap." Demona explained. "We have three days to prepare for the final battle with Duncan's forces." Cold-Fire's eyes went wide.
"How do you know that?" She asked.
"Drexia told us to prepare." Demona replied. Cold-Fire's eyes began to burn bright red.
"So, the bitch betrayed us after all." Cold-Fire stated angrily. Demona shook her head.
"She saved us and gave us a warning about the coming battle." Demona informed her. The door to the castle opened and Gruoch came running out with Bodhe close behind her. She leapt into Macbeth's arms and kissed him passionately. "That reminds me, I need to speak with Brooklyn." Demona said as she walked off to find him.
"How do we know that she can still be trusted?" Cold-Fire asked irritably. Xena shrugged her shoulders.
"Have you ever known our sister to trust without cause?" Xena asked curiously. Cold-Fire chuckled.
"No, now that you mention it I have not seen her do that." She admitted.
"So, let's give her the benefit of the doubt for now." Xena advised. Cold-Fire nodded after a moment.
"I quite agree." Hercules said as he came out to hug his new bride and she kissed him passionately making Cold-Fire uncomfortable. She walked off to be by herself for a few moments as the memories of Cold-Stone came back to her mind as clear as if she had been with him yesterday.
"I'm really glad to see you." Xena said as she kissed him again before they walked inside the castle.
"What happened out there?" Hercules asked curiously. "You could have waited for me."
"I needed to hurry out." She chuckled. Then she looked at him seriously for a moment. "You know we've never had a real conversation about my other form."
…
A young girl around the age of sixteen was pacing back and forth in front of the bathroom in the middle of the top floor of her two story house. She was wearing sweat pants because suddenly her jeans no longer fit and she had on a long sweat shirt. She had dark tanned skin and black hair with matching black eyes.
"I don't understand how you think I can be pregnant." The young girl said irritably for the fourth time since her mother had made her take the test. "You won't even let me talk to a boy without giving me a lecture."
"I don't know how you did it Jane. All I know is that you did." Her mother said in an irritated tone as she held up the positive pregnancy test. Jane snatched it out of her hand and held it in her shaking her hands while she stared at it in shock.
"This… This is impossible." Jane said again after a moment. She felt her legs become numb and she would have fallen to the ground if it hadn't been for a nearby chair.
"Well, who's the father? We might as well go and have a talk with his parents." Her mother said in a resigned tone. Jane glared at her mother for a moment before responding.
"There isn't a father dammit. I told you that I haven't even had sex with anyone." Jane snapped. Her face started to turn red as she screamed at her mother.
"We'll get to the truth of this. I'm setting you up an appointment with Doctor Stangle and he will get to the bottom of this." Her mother said as she lifted the phone and dialed. Jane stormed off to her room and slammed the door. "Yes, this is Marianne Estrada. I need to make an appointment for my daughter to see the doctor as soon as possible." After taking some notes from what the receptionist told her she quickly hung up the phone and went to knock on her daughter's door.
"Leave me alone!" Jane screamed from inside the room.
"Your appointment is at three. Get ready because we need to hurry." Marianne informed her.
"I'm not going!" Jane shouted. Marianne wasn't fazed by her daughter's anger however.
"The hell you're not! Be ready in ten minutes or I'm going to drag you down there by your hair." Marianne said and walked towards her room to get ready. She heard something smash in her daughter's room and she just shook her head and sighed. "And clean whatever that was up."
…
"So, we will be attacked for certain." Bodhe sighed as he rubbed his temples. He was sitting at his desk and Macbeth was on the other side with Gruoch sitting next to him.
"Yes milord, I went there with the attention of negotiating or even reasoning with Duncan but he is beyond reason now. He has become quite mad and it's possible this battle will be necessary to stop him from destroying us all." Macbeth answered. Gruoch gripped his hand tight to show her support and he continued on. "I believe that Drexia is our ally, but in order to bring Duncan here with his army she has to play a dangerous game so I would ask that we order the men to not attack her no matter what happens."
"That's a lot to expect from my men." Bodhe pointed out. Macbeth leaned forward in his chair and rested his forearms on the desk as he looked Bodhe in the eye.
"It's no more than we are asking of her." He pointed out. Bodhe nodded slowly.
"I've always been able to trust you so I will do as you ask, but tell me something. What happens if you're wrong about her and she decides to attack our forces?" Bodhe asked studying Macbeth's reaction. If Macbeth had any thoughts about what Bodhe said he didn't let it show on his face.
"In that unlikely scenario I will kill her myself." Macbeth replied. Bodhe nodded and all three of them rose as Macbeth and Bodhe shook on their new arrangement. Macbeth and Gruoch left the room and Bodhe began to go over his plans to defend Castle Moray from Duncan's forces. Suddenly, time froze and the Fates appeared in the center of the room.
"This is getting out of hand." The blonde fate said irritably. "This battle is supposed to take place decades from now. Canmore is just about to be born and Luoch is also on the way."
"Demona no longer turns against Macbeth due to an overheard conversation out of context." The black-haired fate added.
"What kind of an effect will all of this have on the time stream?" The white-haired fate asked. "What if we were to link the five of their fates together so they will not attempt to ruin fate any further?"
"No matter what happens Macbeth and the gargoyles must be exiled or there will be no repairing what we have done." The blonde fate advised after a moment.
"Then that's what we will do." The black-haired fate said definitively. "Once they are linked we will make sure that each of the pairs loses one partner. Then once they see them come back to life because of the link the people will exile them."
"That's a good plan. We will do that." The white-haired fate agreed. Time started again and Bodhe left the room to go speak with his generals. Macbeth and Gruoch walked into their chambers and Gruoch quickly removed her dress and wrapped her arms around him before kissing him passionately. Macbeth looked at her in shock when he had a chance to catch his breath.
"You've never…" He began but she put her finger to his lips.
"I feared that you would die when you were summoned. Now, that you have returned to me I don't want to waste any time. I know what's coming in three days and I would never think of asking you not to fight but I want to enjoy the time that we have now." Macbeth didn't need to be convinced anymore he wrapped his arms around his young wife and gave her a rough kiss. She quickly began to undress him and after a few moments Demona walked by the door to their chambers and heard Gruoch starting to scream Macbeth's name. She looked at the door in shock.
That's amazing for a human. I wonder if… no, I have a mate that I share a strong bond with. Demona grinned as she opened the door to the chambers she was given and found Brooklyn there waiting for her.
"We need to talk Demona." Brooklyn said as he slowly started to rise to his feet.
"Can it not wait for tomorrow night?" Demona asked irritably. "I am exhausted.
"I understand but I wanted to warn you that Drexia's devotion to this Hunter is identical to yours to Goliath." Brooklyn pointed out.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Demona asked curiously. Brooklyn shrugged.
"That depends on what he does." He replied. "If he hurts her in any way, she may become our deadliest adversary."
"So, what do you expect for me to do?" Demona said irritably.
"Be prepared for the worst outcome." Brooklyn advised as he left the room and Demona began to think about what he had told her.
…
"He's amazing." Duncan said as the blonde fate who was disguised as his servant brought him his son.
"What will you call your heir milord?" She asked as he held his son for the first time. Duncan looked at a portrait that hung on the wall and then back into his son's eyes.
"The future ruler of this world and my heir shall be named after the greatest ruler this kingdom has ever known. From this day forth his name shall be Canmore." Duncan announced and the Fate grinned but he didn't notice as he handed his son back to her.
"That's a very strong name, milord." The Fate took the child and took him back to the nursery that Duncan had built. "Now, things will begin to get back to normal."
"Guard, bring Drexia to me. I need to speak with her." The guard rushed off and soon came back with her. "Why did you allow those traitors to live." Duncan asked irritably.
"I saved your men's lives. I thought that is why I was here." Drexia pointed out. "If I hadn't gotten involved then they would have killed more of your people."
"Yes and I appreciate that, but why did you not kill those traitors?" Duncan asked irritably.
"I gave them those three days so they could imagine all the painful and terrifying ways that we will kill them." She grabbed his hands in hers as her eyes began to glow a bright gold and she grinned wickedly at him. "Imagine how glorious it will be when we crush them all in front of their people. No one will ever challenge your rule again."
…
Finally, Xanatos thought as he stood on top of the tallest tower of the newly relocated Castle Wyvern. There was a large thunderstorm moving into the area and the freezing rain soaked through his heavy trench coat but he wouldn't miss this for all the money in the world.
"Don't disappoint me." He said as the sun lowered and finally began to disappear. He felt like his stomach was doing backflips as he waited nervously. Just as he thought he had been conned by a millennia old story the stone around Goliath began to crack. The cracks started slowly but soon picked up pace and Goliath's eyes burned bright white as he suddenly burst through the stone with a mighty roar. "Excellent." Xanatos rubbed his hands together and stepped forward to introduce himself to the gargoyle leader.
…
"Your son is safe milord." Puck reported to Lucifer as he appeared in the throne room of Avalon. Lucifer looked up from the map she was studying.
"He better be. I think it's time to rid ourselves of Oberon once and for all." Lucifer walked towards him and handed Puck a gold sword. "Report back to me when he's dead."
"It's about time." Puck grinned as he accepted the blade.
