"Fear, every being's greatest enemy"
Two weeks had passed since Eve was rescued and the Babadook retreated once again. The beautiful July morning sun was ascending gracefully up the bloody-red sky. There were no traces of clouds upon it, the cool, yet pleasant wind had ushered them all away.
Eve was… unwell to say the least. Not physically. Ithilden treated her daily for three days and she was even able to walk unassisted again. But psychically, that's another story. She pretty much stopped talking to anyone around her, and even when she did, the answers were monosyllabic.
Not even Kate or Lilly could reason with her, they tried talking to her, she'd just look at them, with emotion in her eyes, but no answer was to be given. She was physically still with them, but mentally, almost none of her was with her family. Her grandcubs tried to console her, but to no avail. Runt, Lilly, Ann and Humphrey as Omegas tried their best, all the methods they knew to try to chher her up even in the slightest. She'd just look at them, but not answer. She'd not join in any games, any other activities they tried to persuade her to take part in.
Eve was… like an empty fur. Only her eyes could betray any kind of emotion, which were always all the same: woe, desolation, sorrow, depression, and just pure sadness. Only things that she did were eat, sleep, cry, and walk by the lake. The lake that Winston was killed at, more specifically. She'd either walk, or just sit and … stare in the distance. Nothing could get her to move. She'd only look in the distance, as silent tears came down her cheeks. She always gave the impression that she was… lost. Without a path or direction, without anything driving her. A lost soul, waiting…
"I don't even know what to try anymore… she just won't cooperate at all!" said Lilly, bursting into tears. Garth hugged her from behind.
"She's maybe going to come around Lilly…" replied Kate, holding back tears herself, while trying to force herself to believe so.
"I don't think so… This is not the Mom we knew anymore… She's just … an empty fur now…" Lilly kept sobbing.
*
The Archmages meanwhile, were developing a plan. They were all standing at the table in the tree-house, with a map in front of them.
"The top of the mountain would be a good position, it's hard for it to flee. But we must find a way to attract it first, we won't battle shit if there's no monster!" said Kharazim.
"Yeah, yeah, we were just discussing!" replied Fannaeras quickly. "Alright, attracting… Do you think Eve would be an option?"
"If we put her in danger again, she might die!" said Lara hotly. "You barely even managed to save her, now you wanna put her at risk?!" she half-shouted.
"Honestly, I think she just wants to die at this point." said Ithilden.
Lara opened her mouth, but Shalidor stopped her. He was watching the druid intently.
"I overheard Kate scold her a bit that she kept getting hurt constantly." he said. Spectrale smiled slightly. "Hey, it wasn't my fault!" chuckled Ithilden. "Anyways, Kate thought those were just scratches… but those looked like claws looked like to me." he continued, now getting solemn. "My thoughts are that she wants to die at this point, she just can't live with herself for what she did to Winston… Whatever others say, she still blames herself. You saw what she's like since she can walk. Just… alone. Completely. Like she doesn't belong to this world anymore, she's just bound here, and wants to stay, but also wants to go. And seems like she decided between the two. If we don't do anything, she will end her life anyway. Might as well help us before she does it. We could ask her, and I think it's gonna be the first time she's gonna speak to anyone."
"Alright, if you can get her into it, I also have the perfect artifact to stop the Babadook from escaping." said Spectrale.
Ithilden left the tree-house, while Spectrale looked for the artifact he wanted to use.
*
A few minutes later
Ithilden stepped noisessly throught the soft grass, and approached Eve, who was gazing, as usual, at the amazing lake. The sparks of the sun rays were dancing upon its surface, while a few leaves were lazily drifting along the water. The wind was whispering through the crystal-clear water, making it shudder slightly.
The druid lowered himself to his knees and placed a purple hand carefully on her right shoulder. The she-wolf didn't even flinch, nor did she gave any sign that she acknowledged his presence.
"I wanted to tell you… we need to attract the Babadook somehow, and you are our best option. You're the only one who might present any interest to him. I know you came back just a week ago, and it looks horribly selfish to put you at such a great risk… but I've noticed your behaviour lately. I think I might know what you're thinking to do… and not that I want to stop you, I know I can't… but this could be the best way to fulfill your wish, and protect your family."
Eve looked at him, tears building up in her eyes, and did something quite unexpected: she hugged him. She wrapped her forepaws around his neck and pulled him very close to her, and the druid hugged her back. She then opened her mouth and whispered, so quietly the wind could've swept her words away, but Ithilden understood her perfectly.
"You're right… I do wish to end my life, but I also don't want to do it in front of my family. And I agree to help you, it's really all that I can do." She released him and walked away, now a ghost of a smile in her watering eyes.
*
Meanwhile
Ann and Stinky were sitting cuddling at a small pond in which they loved to wash and play together. It was not much alike a secret spot for the two lovers ; a sanctuary, somewhere they could sit together, all alone, watching the fresh-green leaves tremble at the gentle stroke of the wind, as they were quietly talking about how they met.
"It was in Alpha School… You were coming so often to me, as I was a Healer…" chuckled Ann.
"I remember I always managed to hurt myself somehow." grinned Stinky.
"One of the funniest ones was when you landed in a crown of thorns… I spent almost an hour pulling all of those out!"
"Claudette never stopped teasing me about it, not even now… I was never as good as the spin-out as she was. She does it just like Mom." he reminisced, smiling slightly. "When you were pulling those sines out, I really saw how beautiful you were…" he added, smirking.
Ann elbowed her lover.
"I think I had a better view of you there, and I'm not going to lie, you look just as good as in Alpha School…" she smiled, licking his muzzle.
"You look even better…" he said, returning the short lick.
"I always hoped it'd be my turn when you came to the Healer's dens… I was almost jealous when you were being helped by someone else…" she laughed quietly.
"And I always hoped you'd be there to help me… your touch just always felt different, more calming, more pleasant…"
The she-wolf smirked.
"So you were already falling for me since then?"
"Yep… I was so nervous about asking you on a date… Claudette just kept pushing me to do it. And I did, after she finally threatened me she's gonna tell you I was already dating someone else… She noticed how you were looking at me, and how you enjoyed healing me, in the few times she and I went together to get healed. I don't know how, but my sister always just guessed these things."
"And she was quite right…" whispered Ann.
They started kissing again, with passion, fondling each other, ending up parting only after a good few minutes. They were getting lost into each other's eyes, when Stinky heard Claudette calling his name.
"Stinky! Where even are you?! We gotta practice some things, uncle Garth said he wants to see how we fight!" Claudette's voice echoed.
Ann put on a fake pouty face. Stinky nipped her ear suddenly, making her yelp and laugh.
"I'll be done before you know it, love. You can come with me too." he smiled.
"Be sure I won't leave you alone." she smirked. They shared another kiss then went in the direction of Claudette's voice, and shared a laugh when they found Stinky's sister wearing the very same impatient face as her mother, like every single time she was made to wait.
*
A few minutes later, in the feeding grounds
"Come on, faster, faster!" said Garth sternly, while dodging Stinky's and Claudette's swipes. They didn't have their claws unsheathed, so they wouldn't hurt their uncle. They swiped faster, but Garth kept dodging them, almost effortlessly. Ann was watching from a short distance interestedly.
"Claudette, stop spinnin' around, you aren't dancing, you're fighting!" said Garth a bit annoyed by Claudette pirrouetes.
Stinky finally managed to hit him, and knocked the red wolf on the ground.
"Finally!" he said getting up. "You gotta practice this way more often, it took at least 3 minutes for you to land one hit! In a real fight, you only have an opening of a few seconds."
"Alright, uncle Garth…" replied Claudette, rolling her eyes slightly, but she nodded fast after a severe glare from her uncle.
"Alright, that was the second thing I wanted to test, now we're gonna try some-" started Garth, but was interrupted by Fannaeras.
"Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but I have to tell you we're baiting the Babadook again. You do whatever you want, announce the others, tell 'em to hide, whatever the hell you want. I told Lilly too."
"Alright." replied Garth. "You are coming with me, we'll go meet your mother and the pack to announce them to get into their dens. You too, Ann!" The four wolves started sprinting to the mountain.
*
Some time later
Eve was at the edge of the Archmages' barrier. She took a deep breath and stepped beyond it, feeling a strange tickle on her spine. She kept on walking through the forest, which was also seemingly watching her intently. The birds weren't chirping, and the wind's whispers sounded like warnings, telling her to go back. She ignored them. She kept a brisk prace, disregarding the fear building up in her heart, and replacing it with cold determination and resignation. "I'll die anyway…" she kept telling herself, as she went on, breathing deeply.
*
Meanwhile
"Where's Mom?!" screamed Kate, panicked.
"I can't see her anywhere -" began Lilly, but Kate dashed past her, noticing a few of Eve's tracks at a short distance.
"I'ma be back soon! Keep the others safe!" she shouted, as she ran on. Humphrey and Garth looked at each other, and once at Stinky and Claudette, which nodded, and they followed Kate.
*
After walking more, she finally reached the cave that the Archmages found her in. She stood at its mouth, but she could already spy a flash of teeth in the back. She dodged out of the way just in time, and slashed the Babadook acrossed his left shoulder. She jumped backwards again ; and that second the Babadook staggered was all the Archmages were waiting for. Kharazim kicked him in the spine from behind, and Spectrale quickly muttered spells, which started making a cloak shine.
Fannaeras and Shalidor quickly started showering the Babadook with flames. The Babadook released a wave of energy, which knocked the Archmages backwards, but they didn't stagger for long. Just before the Nightingale completed the final spell, four wolves pounce upon the monster: Eve, Humphrey, Garth, and Kate. Spectrale, not noticing, threw the cloak into the air, which enlargened greatly in seconds, and formed a black cloth-like barrier around them. The Babadook threw the wolves off roughly and suddenly released a tentacle which ensnared the wolves and made them disappear into seemingly nothing. Another rose out of the ground and did the same to Kharazim and Lara, leaving only her staff behind, but the other Archmages deflected them just in time.
"NO!" yelled Shalidor and Ithilden at the same time, while the others swore. Then, a mad laugh from the Babadook brought them back to their senses, and started battling him once again.
*
In the meantime
Lara got up to notice she was alone. She seemed to be standing on thin air, and everything was pitch-black, which made her quite uncomfortable. She saw the her blade gleaming and quickly picked it up. She couldn't see her staff. She listened intently, and heard some distant sounds, and then saw in the distance flashes of fire. She started sprinting towards them. On the way, she noticed something on the ground, a familiar red cloak. She hurried towards it, only to see it was a person, lying face-first on the ground. She turned the body arround, horrified, and she screamed out loud when she saw it was Fannaeras's body, slashed and gashed all over his front, the blood already dried. He clearly was dead.
She saw another body ; it was Mithrandir's, and it looked just as bloody. Tears started streaming down on her face when she hurried on, getting closer to the flashes of spells, and saw the bodies of Kharazim, his stomach ripped out, and Spectrale's, whose face was completely mutilated.
"No, no, no… please, please…" she muttered desperately inside her head as she ran on, finally arriving at the fight ; Shalidor and Ithilden were the last ones standing, fighting the Babadook. The druid shouted with fear:
"LARA! HELP, PLEASE!"
Lara sprinted but she hit what felt like a wall. She pounded wildly on it, trying to slash it with her sword, but nothing happened. She couldn't teleport through it either.
"LARAAA!" screamed Shalidor.
With a horrid yell of pain, the druids arm was ripped off and he was thrown to the side, like a puppet.
"NOOO!" the she-elf hollered through hot tears as she slammed onto the wall, but again, to no avail.
Shalidor released a mass of lightning bolts, but the monster dodged them all, and got his claw through the mage's chest, hoisting him up. He opened his mouth, and through blood said quietly, but Lara heard him:
"You failed us Lara, how could you let us all die…?"
"Why are you like this Lara…?" gasped Ithilden.
"How can you be so horrible?" echoed Fannaeras.
"You're betrayed us…" Kharazim's voice was heard.
"I can't understand how we could be friends…" said Mithrandir.
"You're the worst thing that has happened to me…" whispered Fannaeras.
"How can you sleep at night…" echoed Spectrale.
The Babadook ripped Shalidor brutally in half.
Lara couldn't take it anymore, and she fell to her knees. Her hand, always steady when on her trusty blade, was now trembling. From fear, sadness, and self-hate…
The Babadook came over to her, passing through that invisible wall that kept Lara easily, and punched her in the gut throwing her backwards. She didn't even fight back, she could only see her friends' bodies, and hear their pleas of help, their whispers and echoes of hatred.
"You're horrible…"
"You wanted us to die…"
"You're nothing…"
"You're the worst…"
"How can you live with yourself, monster?!"
Lara kept being hit and clawed by the Babadook, and tossed around the pitch-black world like a doll, and the Babadook's cold, cruel, bone-chilling laughter also rang in her ears.
She was falling down… alone… down… friendless… down…
But, suddenly, something caught her arm. She looked up, and through tears she could make out Shalidor and Ithilden's faces, and they were smiling. The other Archmages stood merrily behind them too.
"No matter how lost you feel…" began Shalidor.
"How alone, how horrible cold…" continued Ithilden.
"Know that we're here for you. Wherever you are, you will be found." they both said in unison.
"You will be found… you will be found". The phrase echoed in Lara's ears, and she opened her eyes.
The Babadook was strangling her, leering horribly, feeding on Lara's great fear. She could feel her own blood dripping on her body. But fear was replaced by another emotion, even more intense: rage.
She started glowing powerfully with pale green light. The Babadook was blinded, and he dropped Lara when she uttered a scream. Even though she had no breath left in her throat, and was close to being suffocated, that scream came like a huge wave over her. The Babadook staggered, blood coming out its ears.
Lara suddenly stopped. She dashed on the right, grabbed Zirael, and went back to the monster, and began glowing again, even brighter, but didn't scream anymore. The rage was like a veil of power over her. Even if she was wounded badly, slashed all over, she didn't feel anything ; only pure rage. She kept slashing the Babadook wildly. The monster didn't have time to react, she was dashing so fast around him she was only a blur. Then she finally hit him with a flurry of short attacks, and cut him in half with a pirrouete. She dropped on her knees and started finally feeling the pain from her wounds. She started blacking out… the rage leaving her, but pain overcoming her. Lara collapsed on the ground, bleeding.
*
At the same time
Kharazim got up with a flip to find himself in a familiar forest, but not in Jasper.
"Aokigahara…?" he muttered. "How? I haven't seen this place in decades…". He looked around him. It was midnight. The bright eye of the sky was shining brightly, followed by a crowd of stars. All of the forest seemed so peaceful. It was like a dream…
But dreams never last forever.
He and suddenly heard screams. Horribly familiar screams, that still haunted him.
He quickly ran towards them. He saw a scene he never forgot in his life, and still came back into his nightmares.
Kharazim, as a child, and his parents were held onto their knees, katanas to their necks, by some rogue warriors who were laughing cruelly. Another warrior stood dead, a short way behind them. The child was weeping uncontrollably.
"We'll be together, soon, forever!" cried his mother.
"Shut it!" one of them said and punched her in her stomach.
Kharazim ran towards the scene and tried to hit the warriors. But they were like spectres. He could do nothing, and tears slowly came to his eyes as the memory unfolded before him.
"Got everything?" one asked the other.
"Her necklace, and a few over things. This dagger looks quite fine too." he said as he examined the perfectly-crafted blade, that still had blood on it. The older Kharazim kept trying to hit them, but it was all pointless, and now he was crying,, while he kept muttering wildly: "Save them… save them…"
"Then, let's fly…" one smiled maliciously. "Kill the loverbirds, and knock out the child. He'll anyways die to the wolves roaming around here…"
The last things that echoed into both Kharazim's ears for the rest of their lives. The sounds of blades. The gurgling of blood. The slumping of bodies to the ground. The image of his parents' faces, with slit necks, and bleeding heavily, with empty faces and lifeless eyes. One of the murderers hit the young Kharazim in the head, and he also fell on to the forest's floor, into its silky grass.
The shadows of all the people disappeared.
Only four words rang into the monk's head, and seemed to echo into the whole forest, carried by the soft wind through the towering trees. They were his parents voices.
"It's your fault … it's your fault…"
The monk fell to his knees. Suddenly, his mother and father's spectres appeared in front of him, with angry look etched upon their ghastly faces. Their throats were cut, and blood was all over their front.
"You just wanted to go for that walk into the forest, didn't you?" asked his father coldy.
"You got us killed." said her mother in an icy tone.
Kharazim tried to answer, but he just couldn't.
"You pity yourself now? How pathetic can you be?" continued her mother.
"Even all grown, you can still be such a worthless nothing…" said his father.
"It's your fault…"
"It's your fault…"
The Babadook slashed Kharazim from behind, and threw him into a tree brutally.
"It's your fault…"
"It's your fault…"
The Babadook laughed venomously, tauntingly. He then bit into his leg and threw him again onto the forest's floor painfully. The pleasant grass felt like spikes.
"It's your fault…"
"It's your fault…"
Even the moon and stars seemed to shine less brightly… it was like the night's lights had gone out, now leaving it to be only a sea of cold dark.
"It's your fault…"
"It's your fault…"
He was slammed to the ground again. He heard the monster coming towards him, and saw him raising his claw for a final time.
Then, he suddenly remembered a dream he had a very long time ago.
"We'll always be with you, my son. Wherever you will be. However lost you might feel, always remember … you will be found." he heard his father tell him, while his mother smiled at his side.
Then… he blocked the monster's claw. But his arm seemed like a pure surge of light. He twisted its arm, then did the Seven-Sided strike, but the most powerful one he had ever done. The Babadook was far from reacting in time. Kharazim then stopped shining, returning to his normal form. But his fingers turned into claws, his teeth into fangs.
He struck the creature with a lightning-speed, almost to match his Seven-Sided strike. The Babadook tried to swipe at him, but the vampire caught both of his hands. He dug his claws into them, the monster starting to scream, and finally ripped both his hands off. Kharazim then did what he was waiting for. He bit into the monster's neck. The Babadook screamed deafeningly, and the monk pulled out of it. The monster remained still. Kharazim fell onto his knees and returned to his human form. Then, bleeding heavily, horribly hurt, he collapsed.
*
With the wolves…
The four wolves got up to find themselves in their home cave. They were confused.
"Did he teleport us back?!" asked Garth.
"I don't know…" shrugged Humphrey.
"Shh… do you hear voices?" questioned Kate.
Pup laughs were heard from quite close to them. They all followed them, without saying another word.
It came from the Leader's den.
They all stopped at its mouth, horrified. The bodies of Stinky, Claudette and Runt, were massacred throughout it. Blood enveloped the den, while bones and body parts were scattered throught them. Tears flooded both Kate and Humphrey's eyes, and they appeared in Garth's eyes too.
"No… no… it can't be real…" they muttered.
Suddenly, a horrible grin flashed out from the back of the den. The Babadook dashed towards the wolves. They all managed to dodge out of the way, which surprised them. The Babadook seemed… slower.
"I'LL FUCKING RIP YOUR ARMS OFF AND SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT!" yelled Eve, startling everyone.
The she-wolf ran towards it, jumped over his claw and slashed him across the hip, but she was roughly thrown to the side by the monster's other arm.
Tears flooding on their faces, Kate and Humphrey bit its legs from behind, while Garth jumped onto his arm and bit into his face, briefly, but painfully, and jumped off him monster tried to slash both Kate and Humphrey across their backs, and they backed off quickly, but dodged most of it, so they were only deeper scratches.. Eve then jumped back on him and teared into its back, holding on with her claws. Garth took his moment and slashed the monster across its legs, but got kicked right in the face, in return. They saw the Babadook was weakened from the start, and they planned to take full advantage of that.
The monster hollered and collapsed, as Humphrey and Kate jumped on him too. He grabbed all of the wolves and threw them off him. He swiped at Kate. Kate shut her eyes, expecting the slash…
But it never came. She only heard the claws tear something, but not her. She opened her eyes.
The she-wolf saw her mother laying down in front her, bleeding heavily. She took the slash for her.
Garth quickly hit the monster, and together with Humphrey, they pinned down its arms.
"KATE! FINISH IT OFF , NOW!" yelled both the wolves.
Kate managed to tear her eyes off from her mother, and bit into the Babadooks throat. It was just like hunting. Their pray struggled, and it struggled, until it remained still. They managed to kill it.
Kate immediately went back to her mother's side.
"MOM! How bad is it?" she asked desperately, crying.
"Enough to kill me… but it's fine… I wanted to die anyway…" smiled Eve bitterly. "Know, my daughter, I love you, and I always will. You, your family, your sister… I'll always be with you." With the last bits of her strength she put her nuzzle to Kate's, and their forehead's touched, and felt her daughter's hot tears. They stood like that for a few moments, until Eve fell to the ground, and stopped moving.
Kate turned back and Humphrey immediately hugged her, letting her weep into his fur, while his own tears were streaming down. Garth also joined in, his tears mixing with blood coming from his nose.
They all glanced around when they suddenly heard rumbles. The world around them was disintegrating at great speed, revealing darkness all around them. They couldn't do anything, only be enveloped by the cold dark, and deafened by the rumbles.
*
In the real world
Shalidor hit the Babadook with one last ice spike, and the monster fell to the ground. Suddenly , the earth cracked once more, but the Archmages were ready that time.
Ithilden, Fannaeras and Mithrandir planted their hands into the ground. Fannaeras's hands glowed a dark purple, Ithilden's shined an intense brown, and Mithrandir's looked like they were aflame. They were repelling the Nathrezim's magic, not allowing him to save his servant.
The Babadook started twitching violently. Whole bits of him were disappearing, holes were tearing him down from the inside, leaving blinding white light to take it's place. Spectrale and Shalidor created barriers, to leave the others to concentrate on denying the demon's advances. With one last holler, the Babadook disintegrated completely. The blinding light was disappearing, and the Nathrezim's attempts stopped. All the mages stood up and noticed what appeared where the blinding light was. Kharazim and Lara, bleeding profusely, Kate, Humphrey, and Garth, injured, but concious, and Eve's dead body, her side completely mutilated.
Spectrale quickly muttered a spell, which retracted the protective cloak into a bundle, which obediently went back into his hand.
Shalidor opened a portal, and they all passed through it, the mages carrying their comrades, and Kate carrying Eve's body, still crying heavily.
*
Three days later
Lara and Kharazim woke up in the large den of Kate's family. They saw their wounds were mostly healed.
"Don't push yourselves yet, you've been beat up real fucking bad."
The two couldn't be happier to hear Ithilden's voice. Lara would've hugged him, if she could get up, of course. The rest of the Archmages came in, the wolves behind them.
"You've been out for three days! We thought we'd lose you!" said Claudette loudly.
"Nah… I ain't going down that easily." shrugged Kharazim.
Kate then walked into the den, smiling slightly.
"You finally destroyed it… it's finally over." she said.
"Did you bury Eve?" asked Shalidor.
"Yes. We didn't make it public, she wouldn't have wanted that. We just buried her next to Dad… they'll finally be together again." she replied sadly.
"We're very sorry." said Fannaeras.
"It's not your fault … she died for me." said the she-wolf, a few tears stealthily making their ways down her muzzle.
Lara and Kharazim explained what had happened in that dimension, while the wolves also explained what they saw, and how Eve died.
They all stood in silence for a few minutes.
"Babadook got a bit too confident." smirked Spectrale. "Fought too many battles at once."
"Another thing. I connected briefly with the Nathrezim, when we were repelling the spell." said Fannaeras. All of the eyes in the cave turned upon him, some surprised, some hopeful, some confused even.
"He's using a fuck lotta power to keep these monsters in our world. I think he's finally cracking." continued the blood-elf. "He might come for us himself soon."
"Let him come." said Shalidor. "We'll be prepared to welcome him. What will come, will come. And we'll face it when it does." The Archmages and the wolves nodded, smiling, and changed the topic. They felt like it was enough about this subject that woke up horror in everyone for the time being.
The sun rose high in the sky, and with it, hope, determination, and the will to fight rose high along it. At last, they'd know another short-lived peace.