DARK FURIES: Glades II
L. Misty Miller
Rated: PG-13
Inspired by: Chronicles of Riddick, Dark Fury, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Prophecy
I own nothing that has been conceived by Vin Diesel, George Lucas, or J.R.R. Tolkien. I own my original characters and this storyline. I am not being financially compensated for this either.
Dark Furies
1ne
Ambrosia piloted the escape pod to the best of her ability, but it was bloody near impossible given the current circumstances. The Liran rhuneraiths' vessel had uncloaked and reared its ugly face her way and it was hurling terminal blasts to the heart of the pod's system functions. The hull was breeched. The core had overloaded, and the pod was leaking both air and power fuel. To make matters worse, the little Imam-Kyra Jr. was being sucked mightily into Volcania's strong gravity fields.
Mysterious streaks of red light were surging rapidly inside the small vessel. At one point, Ambrosia swore she saw faces upon them and heard banshee-like whispers telling her to "call forth the Furies." But she did not understand, nor did she wish to tempt fate anymore than she already had that day.
Another blast from the Lirans rattled the pod, knocking it out of orbit for a moment. "Shit!" Brosia cussed, trying in vain to maintain control of the vessel, but there was naught she could do. She was going in... hard. The hull finally caught fire and Brosia cursed herself for having failed to don more survival-rendering attire than Riddick's boxers and tank shirt. Her legs were suffering severe burns as she tried to slide out of the pilot's pit, having almost been crushed inside due to the damage from the blasts.
Volcania's atmosphere was smoggy with thick dark, smoldering mists from the mountains below. The skies were a looming furious, red overcast mass of... oblivion. She was unable to navigate. The pod crash landed with a powerful blow to the surface and struck a mountainside. Brosia had assumed crash position inside. She was amazed that the impact hadn't killed her... or even maimed a hair on her head. There must have been witchery afoot for that.
She opened the escape hatch and launched her body upward, landing upon the top of the pod that was now engulfed in flames. She quickly looked around for a damage assessment. The only thing that appeared out of place was the mountain, now with a big gaping hole in it. There was another wayward vessel nearby that appeared to be a cargo freighter. A long-haired older man emerged from it, wearing overalls and carrying a large metal wrench.
"What in blazes?" he interjected. "Hold on!" He then disappeared back into the vessel, returning in only moments with something that looked like a large old-fashioned phaser. He brandished it and began to load fire... only it wasn't ammunition that came out; it was an ice cold substance that extinguished the flames upon contact. It splashed on Brosia as well and froze her skin, diminishing the pain in her legs at once.
"Thank you," she spoke meekly. "Thanks, Mister..."
"Just call me Gabe," the old man replied cheerfully. He put down the weird device and smoothed his rough old hands through his long gray hair. "Not from around here, eh?" he asked jovially.
"Well... no. I'm from Dru," she spoke absently. "I'm Ambrosia... Ambassador Ambrosia Drimes. How fortunate I encountered you here, Gabe," she said thankfully.
"Yes... how very fortunate," Gabe mysteriously echoed, eyeing her strangely. "What say you we find you some better outfit than that? Can't have you cavorting around the boulders of Volcania in her majesty's husband's clothes!" he cajoled, revealing a nearly toothless grin.
Brosia was puzzled... very puzzled and suddenly quite paranoid. She hopped down from the top of the pod and glared at the old man. "How did you know... well, he isn't really my husband," she blathered.
"So you say. Lot more to a union than consummation, my lady," he rambled sincerely. "Besides, not intended to be that kinda marriage," he added knowingly. "It's a wedding of the spirits."
This was beginning to infuriate the Druid. "Hey!" she confronted him. "How the hell do you know so much about me? WHO are you"
"I'm Gabe," the man reiterated. "Now, calm your heart and step into my old hunk of junk here I been trying to fix for eons. I got some supplies you need." He began to waddle back up the ramp into his freighter.
"Gabe! I can't waste any time. I got rhuneraiths after me!" she announced fearfully, recalling what had caused her to crash on this rock in the first place.
"Eh, rhuneraiths you say? Nah, you doesn't either. Quasi-dead ain't allowed entrance to Volcania. They'll just have to wait," he assuaged her. "Say, your majesty? You like aged ale? I got some. Oh, you got such pretty dark hair. Bet I know what would fancy ya. When my daughter left these parts she didn't take everything with. You look to be about her size," he ogled.
Brosia sighed at the seemingly sanguine but harmless pervert. "Whatever, Gabe. Just so long as I can get out of here and reach Earth in time," she blurted.
"Earth, you say? Now why in blazes would you wanna go there?" he asked nonchalantly. "Though, I always did have a yearn for them talking monkeys," he added thoughtfully. "At one time, I was so jealous of their souls that I..." he stopped himself, as though wishing not to reveal anymore. It suited Brosia just fine. This man was bizarre, and probably crazy to boot.
Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, she followed him, quite reluctantly, into the broken down cargo ship.
Back on the Imam-Kyra proper, the three passengers were having a rather lively discussion.
"We land here. I can feel her strongest right here on this mark," Riddick commanded harshly, wickedly steering the vessel in and out of looming mountain tops.
"We've circled this rocky hell hole three times now. Are you sure?" Heni challenged.
"He has to land somewhere," Ben argued. "Better here than nowhere at all, especially with the raiths trailing us."
As the ship passed overhead close in orbit, the two union stones around Brosia's neck began to glow and surge just a bit. She felt his presence. "Damn him," she whispered to herself. "He just had to follow me here."
Dark Furies
2wo
The IK landed quite uneventfully close by to Gabe's busted freighter and the ruined Jr. escape pod. The first to march down the ramp, full of controlled fury, was Riddick himself. His shining orbs met Ambrosia's glittering greens as she exited Gabe's ramp. She was wearing a form-fitting crimson jumpsuit and her long brunette curls were piled lavishly atop her head in a springy ponytail. Her tool belt secured two daggers of an elegant looking metal and she'd traded in the combat boots for sleek dark, silver thigh-high mine-skimmers, named as such because of their usefulness for trotting over heated grounds. The stones were around her neck. She appeared none too pleased to see her counterpart, though she attempted to hide her feelings. Gabe trailed behind her on the ramp, taking his time. He gave the three passengers of the IK a rough wave.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Riddick challenged of his spirit-mate. He accosted the Druid, invading her personal space as he eyed her deeply.
Ambrosia stood her ground. "I was thinking of the whole picture, Richard, and we can't just let them go!" she insisted.
"And who the hell are you?" Riddick barked at Gabe, who simply laughed jovially.
"What? No concern for me? You didn't even ask if I was all right!" Ambrosia quipped.
"Because it's obvious you are, no thanks to your own stupid bullshit pranks..." Riddick bellowed.
"Master of Keys, your royal highness, I presume," was all Gabe said, taking a sarcastic bow.
Riddick folded his arms, glaring at the both of them. "Thank you. I know who I am. I asked who the fuck are you and I want answers, old man," he growled.
Gabe lightly slapped Brosia on the arm, laughing. "Ya didn't tell me he was such a pistol," he teased. "He always this way or just when his wife decides to go hog wild on some damned fool mission to Earth?"
"He has his moments," Heni volunteered. "Hannilee Grenroix, Aryan chancellor," she introduced.
Then Ben formally introduced himself as well, nodding to the old man. "This barbarian here is Lord Marshal Riddick," he added with a glower as he pushed Riddick toward the man.
"Gabe, from all over the place," the man announced unassumingly.
Riddick scowled. "Gabe, huh? Well, Gabe how lucky Brosia was to run into you here," he grimaced.
"I assure you, good man, luck had nothing to do with it. I used to live... elsewhere, till my brother Mike got tired of my rants and raves... decided I needed to stay out here and cool off a while. Quite ironic, wouldn't you say?" Gabe recited.
"Your brother sounds like a pretty powerful man," Ben commented.
"And a jackass," Brosia added for good measure. "Cool off on Volcania. That's rich."
"It's only temporary, my friends. Now my prodigal brother, Lue... he's stuck here forever. Well, at least until this place shuts down. Boss says so, and Boss never makes a mistake," Gabe continued with a hint of sarcasm.
"What do you mean... shuts down?" Riddick cross-examined warily.
"Yes, how does one shut down a planet, exactly?" Ambrosia echoed.
"I do believe a Sir Isaac Newton from Earth hath answered that one centuries ago. He said, and I quote, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Open one set of gates and you close another. Get it?" Gabe riddled.
"Not entirely," Ben admitted. "But then again, it seems I understand very little these days."
"You know more than you believe," Gabe hinted.
"How do you know so much about us?" Riddick demanded coldly. He instinctively took Brosia's hand and pulled her to his side.
"And what a lovely pair you are," Gabe complimented. "Master and Guardian, is it not obvious I've been waiting for you here?"
"Just... what's the deal, Gabe?" Ambrosia piped up.
Gabe sighed, shaking his head as he dropped his eyes. "I could simply tell you, but you probably wouldn't believe me," he lamented.
"Try us," Riddick sneered.
"I'll tell you this... but the rest you must discover on your own. That is what the Boss says. I can give you hints. I can show you where it is written," Gabe replied ominously.
"So tell them," Heni ordered abruptly.
"Aren't we the impatient one, Chancellor. It is a great lot of information to take in all at once," Gabe warned. Seeing the eager faces of his compatriots though, nudged the man to continue.
"There is a great war on Earth between two rival groups. It is the war to end all others, or so they believe. But an even greater one is at hand... one that only I, and my six brothers can intervene in... Boss says.
"You must get to the Temple at Dooms Mountain here on Volcania. From there, you can use the stones to orb directly onto Eterna in Edenlair. My brothers and I will be there to greet you and retrieve the stones at that time, for when Edenlair opens up, Volcania will close its gates while we, and the 144,000 of the Army, fight the dark fire lord on Earth.
"Once he has awoken he will leave this world and close Volcania behind him. The spirit of the Lifeforce will leave Earth during the apocalypse, but it will return upon Earth's victory, and bring about the thousand years of peace, beginning the journey to perfection. That, children, is why you cannot intervene. Ambrosia, your motives were pure and selfless, and the Boss is happy for that. But it is the task of ours... myself and my six brothers, to end this war. Unless we do it, the humans will not be allowed their wings, so to speak."
When Gabe was finished, he took a deep breath as a passing thunderhead crackled faintly.
Riddick angrily turned to Brosia, squeezing her hand as he frowned. "Quite the fucked up mess of a different tale than what you told me you got from that book," he jeered.
"Ah yes, the book of the Druids. Incomplete," Gabe whispered. "You should read mine. I'll get it. I also have some other things for the both of you." Gabe trotted wearily back into the freighter while the others stood gawking in amazement, none truly having absorbed all that was said.
"This is insane," Brosia snickered. "The book of the Druids is NOT incomplete. How dare he..."
"Brosia, shut up. I have it on good authority that ALL religions in existence are warped and whacked. Why should yours be any different?" Riddick snapped.
"Because mine isn't a religion. It's a race of people, you idiot," she retorted hotly.
"Can we rid ourselves of the childish banter and lovers' quarrels?" Ben posed vacantly.
Riddick sighed. "Brosia, find out where this Doom Mountain... whatever is. I'll get the IK ready."
Riddick pivoted on his heel and stormed back to the ship, wanting nothing more than all of this to just be over.
Dark Furies
Thr3e
It was starting to become profusely hot on the fire planet. Brosia slid out of the top of her jumpsuit, revealing a black tank underneath. She tied the sleeves around her waist and eyed her companions as though daring them to comment on her fashion sense. Heni simply rolled her eyes. The Druid's skin was so fair she would assuredly burn in this heat, but Ambrosia was never one to listen to reason, even while she served as the Aryan's interness.
"Hot flash?" Ben teased, smirking.
"Go to hell," Brosia snapped.
"I think we have," Heni admonished, looking about.
Just then, the ear-piercing wail of some airborne animal startled them all. They glanced above and collectively ducked when it swooped overhead. It resembled some kind of giant bird-dragon. It was dark blue and its eyes a glistening red.
"Dactyl!" Ben exclaimed, pointing. "They are all but extinct!"
"What does it want?" Heni asked fearfully.
"Just checking you all out," Gabe assured, reappearing from his freighter. He was carrying with him a large old, worn book, an elegant sword, and a golden trumpet.
Before Gabe could explain the items, Riddick came barreling from out of the IK, cursing up a storm.
"Watch the profanity!" Gabe warned.
"Yeah, watch this!" Riddick flipped him off. "We have no fuel left. Power cells are dead. Why does that NOT surprise me?" he ranted.
He then glanced upward, catching glimpse of the dactyl above, just sort of hovering in mid air. "What the hell is that?" he asked irritably.
"Where is the Mountain of Doom place?" Brosia asked of Gabe, a wicked look in her gleaming eyes, having completely ignored Riddick's inquiry.
"The other side of the planet," Gabe replied honestly.
"Figures," Riddick spat. "I suppose that big blue thing in the sky is our friendly guide."
Brosia and Heni exchanged a knowing glance. "Indeed," Heni whispered. "Why not, Druid?"
Brosia then launched herself to the top of Gabe's freighter, where she was almost within reach of the dactyl's talons.
"The hell is she doing now?" Riddick griped.
"What the Druids are best known for," Heni chuckled.
"Which is what, committing suicide?" Riddick quipped sarcastically.
"Hey," Brosia called up to the dactyl. It squawked suspiciously, then began to fly away, obviously afraid of her. "Wait!" she shouted, launching herself from the freighter to the ground in a fell swoop, tearing after the bird on foot, pounding the terrain. She leapt upward and gripped its mighty talons as it ascended, first dragging and then carrying her in dangling flight.
The others looked upon her in disbelief as she catapulted herself onto the back of the dactyl, riding it like a wild horse high above the ground.
"Now... I'm impressed," Riddick whispered. "Beautiful."
"Masters of the beasts, the Druids are," Gabe reveled. "Looks like you got your transportation. The dactyl's velocity of flight is unmatchable, even by a flying machine."
Brosia landed her newly acquired pet and it wailed to the skies as she dismounted. She leaned in close to it, as though whispering something private.
"It's a female," she called out to the others.
"Show off," Riddick accused lightheartedly.
"Well I am a Druid. Were I not a beastmaster I'd be nothing at all," she quickly replied.
"So, then beastmaster, commandeer us another of these dactyls so we can make way for this temple," Ben proclaimed gleefully.
"Oh, that isn't the way it goes," Gabe butted in regretfully. "You two must stay here. The Temple at Dooms Mountain is for the Master and Guardian only."
Heni and Ben exchanged uneasy glances. "So... then, where does that leave us?" she asked fearfully.
Gabe sighed and eyed them both quite sincerely. "Children, I was old when the universe was quite young. I know enough to emphatically state that I don't make up the rules, but I must follow them. Volcania's gates are to be closed during the war on Earth. While that happens, in the dark fire lord's absence here, things will run amuck, and while no one will be permitted exodus, Hades is always open to wayward stragglers, like rhuneraiths."
"So they can get in..." Riddick began.
"But they can't get out," Ben finished solemnly.
"Benedicto, you and Hannilee shall act as the guardians ad litem here, while my brothers and I defeat the dark lord on Earth," Gabe instructed.
"You mean, stay here in hell?" Heni gulped.
Brosia had sauntered up to join the others, finding them all with severe expressions upon their faces. "I missed something," the ambassador remarked.
Riddick took Brosia's hands. There was an empathy in his eyes that she'd never before seen and it crippled her for a moment. "Hannilee and Benedicto aren't allowed to go with us," he informed her sadly.
"Well, why not?" Brosia desperately pleaded.
"Temple's only for us," Riddick slurred.
Ambrosia shot Gabe an angry glance. "First you tell me my book of prophecies is incomplete. Then you dare to say that my friends cannot accompany me to your bloody temple? What if this is all a trick?" she indicted.
Gabe's once friendly and patient eyes turned to stone, then fire. "Do not take me for some crotchety conjurer of cheap parlor tricks, young one," he threatened. "If I were a trickster would I be able to do this?" He placed the golden trumpet to his lips, blew one resonant note, then all watched bitterly as the mountainside nearest the vessels completely imploded.
"Or would the weapon I gift you with be able to accomplish this?" he questioned, brandishing the bright white sword in the other hand. Its metal grew vastly to several times its length and sliced clean through the front of his busted cargo freighter, knocking the hull loose. "Only a divine metal would be able to do as such," he proclaimed. "Now, you tell me. Is Gabriel a fake?"
Ambrosia gasped, then choked faintly, in awe of the man. She had obviously offended him.
Gabe approached her quite calmly. "You do not need to fear me. I'm on your side. It is the dark fire lord you shall awaken when you reach the temple. Him... my fallen brother, is what you should fear," he hissed. "His name is Legion, lord of the Demonia. I am Gabriel, once leader of the Angelia. I argued with my brother Michael over this very issue, and I lost. I felt that some modicum of mercy should have been spared. Michael did not. He assumed control of the angels. That is all you need to know," he concluded.
Gabriel then caught Riddick's shimmering eyes. "Get to the temple. Open the bloody damned gates so I can reclaim my place and END this once and for all!" he snarled through gritted teeth.
Riddick was stunned. There was such a power to this old man... such a great influence. It stifled even the strong Furyan. It moved him... perhaps even struck a flicker of terror inside his own dark heart. He nodded almost submissively to the self-proclaimed angel. "I need a moment with Ambrosia," he announced flatly.
With that, he took his mate's hand and led her away, leaving Heni and Ben to cling to each other anxiously.
Dark Furies
4our
Riddick took Ambrosia behind one of the larger rock piles where there was even more shadow and darkness to protect his exposed eyes. They crouched down to remain unseen for the time being, as they needed a chance to discuss this culmination of events and reach some kind of agreement.
Riddick was very quiet... brooding... thinking sullenly, as was Ambrosia. Finally, the Furyan spoke first.
"Well..." he began hesitantly, "what do you think?"
"I think that... my heart's gonna break, literally, if I don't fulfill my part of the mission, which is to obey your commands. Much as I hate this, you're in charge for now," she admitted. "My opinions are jaded. I have a closer connection to Earth because my heritage is shared with them. I believe, I should have listened to you all along, for you were acting upon instinct... instinct you knew was right," she further added.
Riddick tried to interject but she kept speaking. "No, Richard. Listen. You've had more experience with this sort of thing than I have. I know, we've had like no chance at all to really talk or come to know each other, which makes this whole thing very strange as it is. But, you were the one who led those without souls to the Threshold, right?"
"I was," he affirmed.
"Then, it is logical that you are the one in command in this instance. Perhaps this is just the very way the prophecy should be fulfilled... the Master of Keys has sanction over the Guardian, because the Guardian cannot be objective," she deduced. "Look, I'm saying... you make the call," she conceded.
Riddick reached out and touched her face, sliding his robust fingers down her cheek. "I wish some of the things that happened to me, never did. Maybe then I'd have something to give back to you," he lamented.
"You will," she assured him. She was so full of hope that it almost comforted the restless Lord Marshal.
Riddick and Ambrosia emerged from behind the rocks and returned to the rest of the crew. "To the temple it is," Riddick announced to Gabriel. "We've decided."
"In that case, children, Godspeed and many blessings, though you'll not need them," Gabe replied thankfully. He handed the trumpet to Ambrosia. "You will know when to use this," he prophesied. He gave the book and the magical sword to Riddick. "As will you know when to resort to these. Now, bid your farewells to the guardians of Volcania's gates," he instructed.
Ben turned to Riddick and shook his free hand vigorously. "Best wishes, Lord Mar - Riddick," he granted.
Riddick leaned in and whispered to Ben, "we'll be back for you, if at all possible. We'll find a way."
Ben nodded soberly. He then embraced Brosia while Riddick and Heni bade farewell.
"Make sure she is safe... always," Heni beseeched sadly. "She is like a sister to me and I love her dearly."
"I... I know how you feel," Riddick admitted, wanting so terribly to be able to express any emotion that was positive and warm. They nodded to each other as Heni wiped away her own tears.
Then, the saddest moment of all was upon them. Ben and Riddick could barely witness the two women in their emotional time of separation. Many tears were shed and sobs cried.
"Heni," Brosia sobbed.
"You're ready," Heni assured her, gripping the Druid's shoulders firmly. "My whole life was about this moment. Now, you are to seize it and find your destiny."
"Brosia, tempus fugit. Call forth the beast," Gabriel commanded. Brosia broke away from the group, walking slowly into the open space as she clutched the trumpet to her side. Thunderheads above began to crash and the winds picked up. She raised her arms out to either side and dipped her head back, bellowing to the breeze the cry of the beastmaster, powerful enough to carry across the barrens of Volcania itself.
From its nearby aerie, the dactyl heeded the call and approached her at once, bowing submissively in an invitation to be mounted by the Druid and her spirit-mate.
Brosia turned back and nodded to Riddick, who was galloping forth to join her. Riddick motioned for Brosia to take the front position, as she was master of this beast. He climbed on behind and gripped the woman's waist with both his mighty arms, having lodged the sword into his belt and the book firmly under his legs.
Brosia leaned into the dactyl and clicked her heels gently against her beautiful blue feathers. "Neyemehes caid yit vikta," she whispered in the ancient tongue. The dactyl began her magnificent ascent into the void above and the they were off... into the night sky of Volcania.
Dark Furies
5ive
Gabriel had been correct about the speed and stealth of the mighty dactyl beast. It seemed only a glimmer before they'd reached their destination.
The Temple at Dooms Mountain was forged inside the blackest of caves, surrounded by an array of flaming torches. It appeared dormant. Brosia landed the dactyl outside and they dismounted without incident. The Druid then instructed the dactyl to return to her aerie, as the animal's loyal services would no longer be needed. Their journey... this part of it anyhow, stopped here.
Brandishing the sword and clutching the sacred book, Riddick led the way. Ambrosia, carrying Gabriel's Trumpet, followed suit closely into the halls of the seemingly empty temple.
Unfortunately, there appeared to be no gate of entrance whatsoever. It was covered in rock.
"What the hell?" Riddick spouted.
"I think I know what," Brosia spoke confidently. She held the trumpet to her lips and blew softly. The faint note that sounded from it, was just enough to gently collapse the stone wall, sending smoldering pieces of coal to the ground. The gate had opened.
Riddick took Brosia's arm and they stepped lightly into the dark temple.
"You have the other ten stones?" Brosia whispered. Riddick nodded, slapping his tool belt from which they hung.
"You sure you're ready for this?" he snarled to her. It was Brosia's turn to nod in affirmation. She was prepared. It was now or never.
Apparently, the demon beast agreed with them, for his evil red eyes opened and he began to breathe fire around them, like a ring from whence they would not escape alive. His roar was deafening. His wing extension as it opened, was gruesomely cavernous and looming.
Riddick and Ambrosia were startled; they'd not even seen the beast so close before them until it came alive. But Riddick knew what to do. He reared the sword high above his head and swung strongly into the flame, freezing and diminishing it to a dull blaze of embers... like the ring of fire Brosia had seen in her vision.
"You dare awake Legion?" the beast hissed horridly.
"I am the Master of Keys to the gates of Edenlair and all that you fear, Legion. Your time is over. I banish you to your final place of refuge, you son of a bitch!" Riddick's voice boomed wickedly.
"Set the stones in motion," Brosia urged, daring not to gaze upon the beast's eyes.
Riddick removed his belt and pulled each stone out. Brosia handed him the other two from around her neck. Clutching them in a pile, he looked somewhat helplessly at Brosia as if asking what to do next.
Brosia simulated the position Riddick's arms needed to take... open and extended, allowing the energy of the stones to flow.
Riddick did as was demonstrated. Surely enough, the stones responded to his call, this time, and began to levitate around his and Brosia's bodies, cycling faster and faster with each orbit until a mist cloud began to form over them.
"What now?" Brosia asked, expecting something to happen.
"FOOLS!" Legion bellowed deafeningly. "What fools are you to know not what you have!"
Legion snaked out his horrid tongue, reaching for the Druid, but she stepped back and spat upon it. "Get out of here!" she shouted.
"Oh, that'll work," Riddick sniped.
Brosia's eyes dropped to the ground in defeat, when she spotted the book that Riddick had placed there when he needed to fend off the flames with the sword. "Of course," Brosia whispered to herself. "Gabriel said we would have to figure the rest out ourselves!"
While Riddick continued balancing the stones, which kept the evil Legion at bay, Brosia reached down and took the book. She held it upon her open forearms, closing her eyes, allowing for the pages to hopefully... magically turn to the passage they needed.
Then the Furies came... the same red sprites that had approached Brosia before she crashed onto the planet. "Call us forth," they hissed. "Call us forth and we can grant you the knowledge. You will be like gods. We will show you the pages you want to see!" they sang menacingly.
"No," Brosia negated, remembering the truth of her vision of Re'verse. The pages stopped turning. Much to Brosia's surprise, they were completely blank! This made no sense at all. It couldn't have been a trick by Gabriel. It just couldn't. There was some lesson to be learned within the blank emptiness of those pages... some kind of message.
"Reverse the evil," she kept repeating to herself. Those had been the spoken words inside her vision. Reverse the evil. Give back the rib. Survive not from him...
Undo that which was done. Seal the union. Brosia began to cry. She knew what actions were required, and it scared her tremendously.
Riddick was almost in a trance at this point. She looked toward him and gently slid the sword from his other belt. In a universe wherein they had strove to bring about an understanding that some things in religion were not literal, this literal action was the one needed. She held the sword to her left side, dropping the book at her feet. The flames engulfed its pages immediately and it began to blaze inside a small inferno of destruction... the empty book, lost forever.
Ambrosia shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "Furies be gone," she bellowed strongly... stronger than she'd ever sounded and with such conviction it stirred Riddick from his zombie-like state. "Legion, the Seven will see your ass in the great war. You're toast. Don't let the door hit you on the way out," she added with a growl.
"Ambrosia, NO!" Riddick bellowed.
But there was naught he could do to intervene. The sword launched mightily into Brosia's left side, its bendable metal latching onto one of her ribs, pulling it out in a bloody mass of entrails that splattered Riddick's shoulders and face. She threw the sword into the fires of Legion's doom. She held up the rib to Legion, circled by the fearful Furies.
She handed the bloody rib to Riddick, who was utterly stunned. She wasn't cowering in pain. She didn't even seem affected, despite the gaping hole in her side. "I believe that's yours," she whispered triumphantly. "Richard, Master of Keys, I exist not because of you, but because I want to... with you. I choose you! I choose obedience over insolence because to obey is to respect," she asserted.
Riddick's shining eyes were glazed and he wanted to say something, but found his larynx paralyzed. "Take it," Brosia urged, aware that the fires of Doom and Legion himself were nearing them as they weakened.
Riddick weakly reached out and took the bone. The stones were still swirling about them as rapidly as ever. The ground began to shake beneath them. Hell was fighting back. At the moment both their hands clutched the rib, a sheer blinding white light emerged from the hole in Brosia's left side... from her heart. Her body convulsed and fell back in Riddick's arms.
The light singed and burned the Furies before Riddick's very eyes, and Legion took immediate flight, launching himself wildly out of the cave's roof, into the fiery skies of Volcania. Riddick knew Legion was now headed for Earth, the gates of Volcania were about to close, and Gabriel was being restored his place on Eterna with his brothers. They were waiting for the Master and Guardian.
The light receded back into Brosia's chest and she gasped heavily, returning to life in Riddick's arms. But something was amiss. They were still on Volcania. They were nowhere near Eterna or the gates of heaven.
The ring of fire had grown and was burning restlessly around them, as though waiting for something to happen as well.
"What haven't we done?" Brosia asked hopelessly. "Is this it? Did we do it?"
Riddick looked around him, still clutching Brosia to his own body for dear life. "No," Riddick spoke as though seeing dawn for the first time in his life. "No, we didn't. That's why we're still here."
"I don't understand," Brosia cried.
"The mystical union," Riddick spoke softly. "One last thing is needed." He drew her closer into his arms. "I embrace my destiny. It's you," he affirmed warmly. "It's you," he echoed against her ear as he drew her face to his.
"Do you accept me, Ambrosia?" he growled softly amidst the cackling flames.
"I... well, I already said I did," Brosia replied, feeling very confused and afraid, but also... excited. She thought the latter emotion quite inappropriate given the circumstances.
In his tender embrace, she recalled the blank pages and how they'd burned into oblivion. They were blank. They were empty, which meant... which meant... nothing beyond that point was in stone! There was no prophecy or destined actions therein. It was up to the Master and Guardian now.
"You're choosing your own destiny," she surmised, "and I am it. You're undoing what was done. The first man and woman were put together... TOLD what they had to do. But us..."
"We chose," Riddick finished for her. "We chose, which means we win."
Brosia smiled deeply as Riddick took her face in his hands. He drew her in for their second most passionate kiss. "Do you accept my choice?" he whispered feverishly.
"Yes," Brosia emitted. "So be it."
Riddick lowered her to the ground inside the fire ring. He cradled her in his arms as he disrobed her and himself. Naked, primal, as the first beings in existence, they willingly consummated their union. As they made love inside the temple, they became so euphoric that they were unaware of the transformation around them.
They awoke inside a shower of warm soft light... a light that did not pain Riddick's eyes. The light slowly faded and the two newly bound lovers looked upon each other, as true husband and wife. They were both robed in white smooth fabric. Riddick's eyesight had been restored. The shine... was gone, as well as his memories of Slam. Though Brosia had never even seen them at all, Riddick's scourge scars upon his back had faded, leaving no recollection of the beatings he'd sustained while incarcerated.
"I wish that some things had never happened to me..." he had told his wife in confidence. He wished they had never happened, so that his heart would be rightfully open to her.
Dark Furies
6ix
Brosia stared upon Riddick's deep brown eyes and for the first time ever, he was looking at her... as she truly was, the infrared images having left the Furyan for good. He gasped. He smiled. He reached out and tenderly touched her face. He knew this woman was his wife, and that he had to have been wed to her for a very long time. However, there was little else he could recall about his life.
Brosia smiled warmly in return. She knew the mission had been achieved. She also knew that at some point, they would have to get Ben and Heni out of the hellfire of Volcania. With Riddick having no memory, that might pose a problem.
Their minds were linked collectively for an instant. They knew all about each other, and when the moment passed, only the good echoes of their lives remained etched in tangible memory. Riddick knew who he was and what he had chosen, what he'd sacrificed, and ultimately... with what he'd been rewarded.
They were on the safety of Eterna, and gazing upon them were the Seven Brothers. They were in their glorified states. Gabriel, equipped with mighty wings and golden hair, shimmering eyes and a very youthful face, stepped forward first.
"My children, you've passed. Now, we can fulfill our destiny," Gabriel spoke proudly. He then gestured to the others. "These are my brothers," he introduced. The brothers were all similar in appearance, though each had a slightly different eye color and hair hue. "Meet: Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Jophiel, Zadkiel, and Charmuel. Now, we ask you for the stones that lay about your feet in the circle. We had a deal."
Riddick nodded to the brothers and collected the rhunestones from the ground. He handed them to Gabriel, who took four. Michael attained four more, leaving the final four to Raphael.
"Gabriel, we have to go back for Ben and Heni. Any suggestions?" Riddick broached.
"One," Michael volunteered. "Your wife is a Druid beastmaster, which grants her sanctity over all beasts in the realm, even those of distant galaxies. You shall require an army of beasts with which to battle the animorphs who seek the gates of Volcania for their own warped reasons."
"You've been to Tangiers, have you not, Riddick?" Raphael interjected.
"Have I?" he asked, clearly not recollecting that part of his life.
"Trust me," Gabriel intervened. "The Lady Riddick will know what to do. She has retained your memories, and Riddick... you are forbidden ever to seek them. Just look at it as... she holds the sweetest fruit in the galaxy, and no matter how tempted you may be to taste of it, don't. Just... don't."
A somewhat confused, but truly happy Richard Riddick nodded in agreement. "Gabriel," he began. "Somehow, I think you've granted me the biggest miracle of all."
"No," Ambrosia argued sweetly. "He gave it to me. For there you stand."
Riddick found himself actually blushing. Brosia giggled.
"I believe you'll find the beasts you need in the Tangiers system," Gabriel again hinted. "Psst... I hear they're quite hungry these days..."
The brothers vanished, leaving the husband and wife to revel in all that had been bestowed upon them. Eterna was theirs for the taking... when they'd completed their unfinished business.
Riddick turned to his wife. "I walked through fire for you," he whispered. "So... heaven can wait."