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Author's notes: Ugh, I'm sorry I'm late again, but I had so many school assignments!  But this should please you!  Oh, and as a side note, this story is now 400 pages long!  Wow, this is really going to be a novel, and I'm not even finished with it yet!  Enjoy this chapter you guys!  There's about 4 more chapters left (it's a definite estimate this time) and everything is done!  This story will be over!

Enjoy!

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CHAPTER 28

                Over the roars of the wind, over the howling of the black magic and deathly dusk eclipsing the field, and over the loud, ragged breathing of the entity named Elil-rah, Justin and the other rabbits could not believe what they had just heard.  The shock was deathly silent, morbid.

                They were not alone; Woundwort, Snitter, Rowf, Sneezewort, and Lousewort also understood what he had confessed, and once translated for the others, it was enough for everyone in Fenlo to go tharn, like the coldest frost, as Elil-rah's words repeated throughout the field once again.

                "WHY, WHATEVER IS WRONG, MY DEAR, YOUNG CROSS-BEARER?" drawled Elil-rah, his tongue simpering in drooling, condescending, patronization, "SURELY YOU MUST HAVE KNOWN, AFTER ALL THIS TIME YOU HAVE TRAVELLED WITH THE RABBITS OF WATERSHIP DOWN...OR HAVE YOUR TRUSTED, LOVING PROTECTORS NEGLECTED TO MENTION SUCH A TIDBIT OF INFORMATION?  OR PERHAPS, YOUR PRINCE OF RABBITS, EL-AHRAIRAH, IS NOT AS BENEVOLENT AND RIGHTEOUS AFTER ALL, IF HE WITHHELD THIS INFORMATION FROM YOU IN ORDER TO CONTROL YOU AS SOME MINDLESS PAWN?"

                Justin them heard Strawberry wheedle him, pleadingly, "Justin, please do not listen to him!!  He's lying!!  You know El-ahrairah would never lie to you!!  He would never use you like Elil-rah had mistreated his minions!!"

                Justin just remained blank and unresponsive.  Acorn then whipped fiercely back to Elil-rah as he growled, "How dare you utter such blasphemy, you coward?!  El-ahrairah is the Prince of the Thousand, not Justin!  You will have to better than that if you wish to try to have us turn on one another with your lies and falsehood!!"

                Elil-rah simply chuckled as he gave Justin a meaningful look, as if he wanted Justin to succumb to the power of his suggestion, as if he enjoyed watching the inner turmoil the teenager was struggling with inside his heart, as if he enjoyed nothing more that seeing doubt and fear eat at the adolescent away, slowly and bit by bit.

                "IT IS THE TRUTH, JUSTIN, AND DEEP DOWN, YOU KNOW IT ALWAYS WAS.  JUST THINK ABOUT IT, CROSS-BEARER, THINK ABOUT THE MEANING OF MY NAME, ITSELF.  IT WAS GIVEN TO ME SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME, SINCE THE AGE OF DARKNESS I INFLICTED ON ALL ANIMALS ON THE DAY OF FRITH'S BLESSINGS.  THINK WELL, YOU FOOL: MY NAME IS ELIL-RAH."

                "So what, you dark horrid beast?!" growled Campion, "It simply shows you are one of the Thousand, like every other creature made to kill us!  Only you're pure evil, something Frith never created!"

                "THAT IS TRUE, CAMPION; I WAS NEVER CREATED BY FRITH, BUT BY THE KING AND TRUE LORD HIMSELF, THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS, KNOWN TO YOU JUSTIN AS 'SATAN'.  YET JUSTIN, THINK ABOUT IT, YOU PURE, DELUDED FOOLISH CHILD!  WHAT IS THE ONE ELI THAT CAN BE TRULY CROWNED AS THE RULER OF ALL ELIL?  WHAT IS THE ONE CREATURE THAT ALL ANIMALS FEAR THE MOST?"

                Then it came to Justin.  The realization came the moment the enemy was done boasting, pure horror delivering a cold blow in his senses.

                "Elil" was the Lapine word for "enemy", specifically a creature that hunted and killed rabbits, and rah was the suffix meaning "lord" or "leader".  So, "Elil-rah" meant literally "The Lord of all Enemies".  And in Justin's knowledge, there was only one creature that was most feared, most hated, by all animals and rabbits alike, one that truly enjoyed the hunt of innocent flesh, the spillage of blood for sport, the slaughter of animals for lust and fun rather than for survival.  There was only one creature in the physical world that relished in violence and darkness, that killed others, even those of its own race, thoughtlessly and without remorse, and that could truly touch the deepest depths of depravity and immorality.

                "It's man," whispered Justin, his face pale.

                The other rabbits then understood as well.  The only eli that could even be considered the most evil would be man himself, so if Elil-rah claimed to bear the rightful name of "the king of elil"…

                "O Frith and Inle," murmured Buckthorn, his eyes glassy and his face white.

                "Embleer Frith," Holly cursed to himself.

                Bigwig then remembered aloud, "Then when Prince Rainbow tried to attack us with his Dogs of War earlier…when he told Justin that he and Elil-rah were closer and more alike than we previously thought…this was what he meant!!"

                "Then...then that would mean..." but the thought of it was so horrific, Fiver could not continue.  Yet the dark beast of ages past finished the thought.

                "THAT MEANS, YOU FOOLS, THAT I TOO, AM HUMAN!!!  WE ARE BROTHERS, YOU AND I!!  DO YOU NOT SEE YET, JUSTIN?!  YOU TRULY ARE THE PRINCE-OF-THE-THOUSAND FOR YOU ARE A HUMAN BEING, A CREATURE THAT WAS CREATED TO SPECIFICALLY CAUSE DEATH, DESPAIR, AND HARM TO ALL ANIMALS HE COMES INTO CONTACT WITH!!  AS SUCH, YOU TRULY ARE THE ONE LIVING ANIMAL THAT HAS A THOUSAND ENEMIES, A BEING THAT IS UNIVERSALLY DESPISED AND HATED UNTIL THE END OF TIME!!  EVEN MORE SO THAN EL-AHRAIRAH, FOR AT LEAST EVEN THE TRICKSTER HAD ALLIES AMONG THE ANIMALS OF FRITH AS HE DID ENEMIES, YET YOU, YOU WEAK, LITTLE BOY, HAVE NO FRIENDS AND ALLIES AMONGST THE ANIMALS EXCEPT THOSE WHO HAVE TRULY DISGRACED THEMSELVES TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT SIDING WITH A HUMAN WOULD HARDLY DO ANY FURTHER DAMAGE TO THEIR HONOR AND PRIDE!!!  SUCH AS YOUR PRECIOUS RABBIT GUARDIANS AND THOSE FOOLS THAT LEFT MY OWSLA TO BEFRIEND YOU!!!"

                Lousewort, Sneezewort, Snitter, Rowf, and all the rabbits of Watership Down growled at that underlying insult.  Woundwort remained stony and indifferent.  Justin, however, managed to surprise everyone by saying thickly, his voice hoarse yet loud, "You're wrong!!  Don't ever insult them like that!!  They're the most noble animals I've ever met, and I don't care that we're different because I know I'll always be there for them just as they will for me!!  And I'm nothing like you, Elil-rah!!  I won't ever be!!  Even if you are human!!"

                "DO NOT BE DAFT, YOU DUNCE!!  CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT THIS IS FATE, THAT THIS IS DESTINY?!  YOU AND I WERE MEANT FOR SOMETHING MUCH, MUCH GREATER THAN TO BE HUMBLE SERVANTS, THAN TO BE A SIMPLE CARETAKER AND ALLY, WITHOUT ANY GLORY AND TRUE POWER!!  SUCH A THOUGH IS AN INSULT TO OUR HERITAGE, TO OUR NOBILITY, TO OUR RIGHTFUL CLAIM AS RULERS OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN!!!"

                Justin became still at what Elil-rah had just said.  No, it could be…he must have heard wrong.

                "Wha-…WHAT did you say?!" gasped the teenager.  Elil-rah's damning eyes gleamed even brighter.  So the boy had no idea of the truth.

                He boasted, "YOUR IGNORANCE NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE ME, YOUNG CROSS-BEARER!!  THIS IS NO ORDINARY REALM!!  THIS IS WHERE OUR RIGHTFUL HERITAGE AND DESTINY LIES!!!  THIS IS THE GARDEN OF EDEN, THE LANDS OF FRUITFUL BOUNTY, THE WORLD OF ENDLESS, AGELESS PARADISE, THE KINGDOM OF ALL ANIMALS!!!  SURELY YOU REMEMBER THE GARDEN OF EDEN, JUSTIN?!  AFTER ALL, THIS IS WHERE YOUR ANCESTORS ONCE REIGNED, BEARING THE NAME OF THE POWERFUL RULERS OVER ALL THAT EVER LIVED IN THIS HALLOWED SOIL!!!  AND IT IS MINE, MINE TO RIGHTFULLY CLAIM AFTER BEING SO UNFAIRLY BANISHED FOR BEING A TRUE MAN, A MAN MORE POWERFUL THAN GOD AND EL-AHRAIRAH!!!"

                "His ancestors?!!" echoed Speedwell incredulously as he stared at Justin.

                "Justin, what did he mean?!" Hazel asked, wide-eyed.

                "I…they were Adam and Eve, the very first humans ever created in the Bible," Justin murmured in a hollow, empty voice, full of disbelief and overwhelming surprise, "If…if this is true, then…then you guys weren't the original creatures to live here.  Adam and Eve were assigned by God to care for the paradise of all of God's creations, including the animals, so…since all humans are descendants of Adam and Eve, then…then…"

                Blackberry then finished for him, "Then you are a son of Adam and Eve, and what Elil-rah said was true: that this isn't the land beyond life for us…but your ancestral home…this Garden of Eden!"

                The human cross-bearer was floored.  All this time, he was not in just any spiritual realm of the dead.  He was in the Garden of Eden, the one haven of God's creations that was closed to all humans ever since the betrayal of Adam and Eve.  Because they ate the forbidden apples from the Tree of Knowledge, after God expressively forbade them to, they were kicked out of the Garden as a price for gaining free will.  Then he realized it was starting to make sense.  Why else would no human have ever been allowed into the land beyond life?  It was because they were banished, condemned to never step foot into the garden and risk it to a fate of desecration, of chaos, of evil.  That was why most of the animals were so hostile to the boy's presence, because to allow a human to arrive into this world was a huge taboo, almost an unpardonable heresy.  If God intended this land to no longer be welcome to humans, it would be only natural that animals would have been welcome in the care of the Garden of Eden once they had perished in the physical world for unlike humans, animals had no free will and lived solely by instinct and necessity.  The minute a human would return after eons and eons of blissful freedom would probably be horrendous, even catastrophic.

                "I cannot believe it!" Silver gasped, "So there were humans once before in the land beyond life!!"

                "THAT IS CORRECT, SILVER!!  AND NOW…IT WILL BE HUMANS THAT SHALL TAKE CONTROL OVER ALL CREATURES IN THE LAND BEYOND LIFE, LIKE IT BLISSFULLY ONCE BEFORE!!  THIS LAND SHALL NOW CLAIM MYSELF AS IT'S RIGHTFUL KING!!!"

                "Frith and Inle, you are mad!!" snapped Dandelion bitingly, "YOU…a human?!  HA!  Highly unlikely!!  You're as human as we are!!  Justin is only true man in the land beyond life!!  We know who you really are!!  You were the dark beast that was created by the fallen angel to wreck havoc on all beasts and innocents created by Frith!!  You slaughtered hrair creatures without hesitation or remorse!!  You would never be accepted as a king, less than a leader we would swear obedience to!!  I'd rather die than declare my subservience to you, you creature of the night!!!"

                Many of the Watership rabbits standing nearby heartily agreed, but back to the observing audience in the warren of El-ahrairah, the Threarah muttered bitterly, "I beg to differ."

                "That was not even remotely amusing!" snapped Vilthuril who overheard him.

                "Oh, stop being dense and see reason, Vilthuril!" growled Sandwort, "Do you honestly think being on good terms with a human boy is any better?!  It's bad enough that we are being forced to tolerate this elil scum to even reside here for the time being!!"  He griped this last statement while pointing a paw at Snitter, Lousewort, Rowf, Snitter, and the Promised Friends.  Needless to say, they were not happy at that remark.

                "My, you're a little, poisonous, ungrateful upstart, aren't you?" Sneezewort sniped with a venomous glare.

                "Keep in mind, Sandwort, you do not speak for El-ahrairah…or for all rabbits," growled Lane, the male fox.

                "But he speaks for some of us," challenged Scabious stiffly as some others murmured their agreements, "After all, if Elil-rah sees Justin as a threat, how bad could he possibly be?"

                "That is enough!" hissed Rabscuttle, and temporarily, the argument ceased at that warning as the onlookers continued to watch the mounting danger to come.  Elil-rah's eyes then looked at Justin with a mixture of superior pleading and malicious pride.

                "WE ARE BROTHERS, YOU AND I, JUSTIN!!  WE ARE BOTH HUMAN, BOTH BLESSED WITH THE POWER TO RULE OVER ALL ANIMALS, BOTH OF US MEANT FOR THINGS GREATER THAN LOWLY SERVANTS!!  AND WHAT YOU HAVE JUST SAID IS PARTIALLY TRUE, DANDELION!!  THOUGH I AM HUMAN, I HAVE NO PHYSICAL BODY, BUT THAT ALONE IS NOT A WEAKNESS, AN ACHILLESS HEEL!!!"

                "But then how can you possibly claim yourself to be a human?!" Speedwell demanded roughly, "The legends said that you were in existence since time began, before God created the race of men!"

                "BECAUSE I WAS BORN OUT OF THE DARKNESS OF MEN'S HEARTS, YOU FOOLS!!  I AM THE EMBODIMENT OF EVERY DARK EMOTION, EVERY CURSE OF BITTER HATRED AGAINST GOD AND THE LIGHT, EVERY NOTION OF JEALOUSY, BLAME, AND UGLY STRIFE FROM THE HEARTS OF MEN!!!  THE INSTANT ADAM AND EVE WERE SENT TO SUFFER IN TURMOIL AND LABOR, THEY HARDENED THEIR HEARTS AND OUT OF THE DARKNESS, I WAS GIVEN BIRTH AND POWER!!!  FOR YOU SEE, YOU PATHETIC RABBITS, IN THE HUMAN HEART, DARKNESS AND EVIL IS THE TRUE ESSENCE!!!  NO MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD HAD EVER LIVED LIFE WITHOUT HAVING THEIR HEARTS TOUCHED BY THE LUST AND TEMPTATIONS OF SIN, THE STAINS OF AVARICE, AND THE SURRENDER OF VICE AND GREED!!!  CAN YOU NOT SEE THE TRUTH, YET YOUNG JUSTIN?!!  I AM A PART OF YOU!!!  I AM THE DARKNESS THAT LURKS IN EVERY HEART OF MEN, AND YOU ARE NOT AN EXCEPTION!!!  DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS OUR FATE, OUR ROLE, OUR DESTINY?!!  DARKNESS CONSUMES THE LIGHT, JUST AS HOW LIGHT COMBATS THE DARK!!  AS LONG AS YOU ARE THE CROSS-BEARER, YOUR LIGHT, YOUR POWER, YOUR INNOCENCE CONTINUES TO RADIATE FROM YOUR HEART, AND I, THE RULER OF DARKNESS, AM MEANT TO RECLAIM AND CONQUER IT!!!  WHERE THERE IS LIGHT, THERE IS DARKNESS, AND AS LONG AS YOU EXIST IN THIS WORLD, JUSTIN, I SHALL BE THERE, TO DESTROY YOU UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT!!!  FOR AS LONG AS DARKNESS IS THE TRUE NATURE OF THE HUMAN FLESH, THE POWER OF THE CROSS WILL NEVER WIN!!!  IT IS INEVITABLE!!!  AND THAT STORY OF HOW I CAME TO BE IS NOT ENTIRELY ACCURATE, SPEEDWELL!!!  THINK ABOUT IT!!!  IN ORDER FOR MYSELF TO HAVE EVEN BEEN BORN, I HAD TO HAVE BEEN CREATED BY THE POWERS OF EVIL IN MEN!!!  THOUGH THE FALLEN ANGEL DID GIVE ME LIFE, HE NEEDED A HOST TO EVEN NURTURE MY DEVELOPMENT!!  WHERE DO YOU SUPPOSE THAT HOST CAME FROM, YOU DAFT FOOLS?!"

                Silver and Buckthorn then realized the conundrum.  It was similar to the riddle, "Which came first: the chicken or the egg?"  If what Elil-rah said was true, then he had to have been born when Adam and Eve already existed, so as a result, Elil-rah really was, in spirit, human.  There was no other way this beast was born from the hearts of animals for creatures of Frith were never given the capability to be this lowly and abominable.  Not even Woundwort back in the physical world could even be half as ruthless as any human.

                "So that was why you attacked all those innocent creatures of Frith in ages past?!" cried out an outraged Silver, "Because you wanted to consume the light and good out of every creature blessed by the light of Frith on the day of his blessings?!!"

                "SO YOU FINALLY UNDERSTAND MY PURPOSE, SILVER, FOR YOU SEE, IT IS THE DESTINY OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT, GOOD AND EVIL.  DARKNESS IS THE HEART'S TRUE ESSENCE, AND EVERY LIGHT MUST FADE, EVERY SOUL MUST BE CONSUMED BY THE DARKNESS, EVERY HEART RETURNED TO EVIL!"

                "You're mad!" snarled Buckthorn, "Such purity and goodness and power can never belong to you!  Even if you tried, you could never succeed!!  It is the one, ultimate law of nature and Frith itself!  There must always be a balance between good and evil, life and death, darkness and light, all in one, universal cycle!  To even achieve it would upset the delicate rules of everything that ever existed!"

                To this, Elil-rah crowed, "AH, BUT I AM HUMAN, AND AS SUCH, I DO NOT ANSWER TO THE SO-CALLED 'LAWS' OF YOUR PATHETIC RACES, YOU DAMNED OWSLA OF WATERSHIP DOWN!!  HUMANS WERE MEANT TO RULE OVER ALL ANIMALS, AND AS SUCH, I CARE NOT ABOUT HOW IT AFFECTS YOUR LOWLY, UNDERSERVING WORLDS, YOU FURRY SCUM!!  ONCE I HAVE CLAIMED MY RIGHTFUL PLACE AS KING OF THIS LAND, AS MY ANCESTORS ADAM AND EVE HAD ONCE BEFORE, I SHALL FORM AND MOLD THIS LAND TO MY LIKING, TO MY POWER, TO MY RULE FOR ALL OF ETERNITY!!!  GOD AND FRITH SHALL NO LONGER RESIDE HERE, BUT ONLY ME, ELIL-RAH, THE DESCENDANT OF SATAN AND THE LORD OF ALL ANIMALS!!!"

                Justin could hear the bitterness, the brimming hatred in Elil-rah's voice, and he knew that the beast was insane, mad for power and control and vengeance.  There was no way he could argue that any human ever deserved to continually rule over the land beyond life, how Adam and Eve had forsaken their right to watch and supervise this haven, especially since they were willing to forsake it for "freedom".  Though it had blessed the humans of the future with knowledge, free will and thought, and choice, it also cursed them with hardships, misfortune, and depravity, and Justin knew, that no matter what Elil-rah said, that this was all just another elaborate scheme for the enemy to destroy all of God's treasured creations out of spite and anger.

                "But…but if Justin was your main target, then why did you attack El-ahrairah and us?!" demanded Bigwig angrily.

                Elil-rah chuckled as he sneered, "EL-AHRAIRAH WAS ALWAYS THE ONE, MAIN THORN IN MY SIDE AND ONE OF THE FEW REMAINING OBSTACLES THAT STOOD IN MY WAY OF TAKING OVER THIS LAND!!!  IF IT WERE NOT FOR HIM, I WOULD HAVE HAD NO PROBLEM IN CONQUERING THIS WORLD AND RESHAPING IT TO MY OWN IMAGE!!!  BUT THAT DEVIOUS LITTLE WRETCH WAS ALWAYS WILLING TO FIGHT ME AND RESIST EVERYTHING TO PREVENT ME FROM TAKING OVER THE LAND BEYOND LIFE!!  HIM AND HIS TRICKS HINDERED ME FROM TAKING CONTROL OVER HIS KINGDOMS AND WARREN…ALL BECAUSE HE WAS TOO STUBBORN AND A FOOL TO FORESAKE HIS ROLE AS CARETAKER IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN!!!"

                "O Frith and all his blessings!" squealed Pipkin upon hearing this.  The rest of the Watership fellowship felt the very same emotion of stupefaction.

                "Dandelion, is this true?!" Speedwell gasped, "Since when was El-ahrairah named one of the caretakers of the land beyond life?!!"

                The golden storyteller shook his head helplessly, still nearly tharn from Elil-rah's boasting, "I…I cannot say, old chap!  None of the stories have ever mentioned such a thing, and El-ahrairah never said such a fact to us!  He never told us!!"

                "But how important could this role of 'caretaker' possibly be, Dandelion?" demanded Hawkbit, "I mean, a little duty as watching over the land beyond life??  That could not possibly be of much value!!".

                "YOU FOOL!" bellowed Elil-rah, "THE CARETAKERS ARE ANIMALS ASSIGNED BY FRITH TO WATCH OVER AND MAINTAIN THE PEACE AND TRANQUILITY OVER ALL OF THE LAND BEYOND LIFE AS WELL AS THEIR RESPECTIVE KINGDOMS!!  FRITH GAVE THEM POWER BEYOND THEIR GREATEST DREAMS TO WATCH AND PROTECT THE LAND BEYOND LIFE, ENSURING THAT IT WOULD NEVER AGAIN BE TAINTED WITH THE EVIL AND BETRAYAL THAT ADAM AND EVE, THE VERY FIRST HUMANS, HAVE SURRENDERED TO!!  THEY MAINTAIN THIS VERY SANCTUARY!!!  THEY ARE THE PILLARS THAT SUPPORT THIS WORLD!!!  WITHOUT THEM, THEY, THEIR SUBJECTS, AND ALL WHO EXIST IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN WILL PERISH AND DIE TO GLORIOUS CHAOS!!!  THE ROLE OF THE CARETAKER BRINGS LIFE, ALLOWS THE REGAL CREATURE TO BE ONE OF THE LAND AND ALL ITS SPLENDOR AND ELEMENTS, AND EACH ANIMAL WAS BLESSED WITH AN ADDITIONAL POWER BY FRITH IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE GIFTS THEY HAD ALREADY RECEIVED FROM THE DAY OF HIS FIRST BLESSINGS!!  AND YET WHAT DID THAT FOOL DO?!  HE WASTED SUCH IMPORTANCE ON USELESS, LOWER ANIMALS THAT COULD NEVER FULLY APPRECIATE THE HONOR AND POTENTIAL SUCH TASKS AND WARDS COME WITH!!  AND MOST INSULTING OF ALL, EL-AHRAIRAH WAS THE LOWLIEST OF ALL CREATURES TO EVER PLAGUE MANKIND, AND YET FRITH STILL FOUND IT AMUSING TO GIVE THE PRINCE OF ALL RABBITS SUCH A ROLE, JUST TO SPITE THE REST OF US!!!"

                "But…but why would Frith assign our Prince to be one of the pillars??" Silver asked incredulously.  Justin then gasped as it came to him.

                "Because there really isn't much of a better choice than El-ahrairah!" the teen exclaimed, "Think about it!  What is the best way to make sure that the next caretaker won't fall for deception and be tricked into losing his soul to evil?  Who could possibly be smart and cunning enough to keep the enemy and Elil-rah from taking control?!  Who do we know who is clever enough to strategize and keep enemies from succeeding?!  In order to trick a enemy, you need a trickster, and if you need someone who won't be tempted easily like Adam and Eve, use an animal instead of a human!!"

                "And El-ahrairah is the greatest trickster of all creatures in the land beyond life!" Acorn exclaimed, the realization dawning on him.

                "Then that explains why El-ahrairah and our warren was targeted the most recently!" Blackberry cried, "O Frith and Inle, since El-ahrairah never surrendered his power and authority to Elil-rah, the dark beast still saw him and us as his greatest threats!  Without El-ahrairah's power, he could never rule over the land beyond life!!"

                "So that was why you could not attack him openly, you foul wretch!" roared Hazel, his fur bristling, "El-ahrairah and his tricks were certainly a match for you and your dark powers, and with him weakened by your black curse, it would have been easier to weaken him so that you could finish him off and steal away his power as caretaker!!"

                "SUCH IS THE FATE OF THE PRINCE OF ALL FOOLS, HAZEL.  HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER THAN TO UNDERESTIMATE MY DETERMINATION FOR THIS WORLD TO BE SHAPED BY MY WILL.  IF HE FOLLOWED BY EXAMPLE WHAT THE REST OF THE PILLARS HAD DONE, HE WOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN ATTACKED AND HIS WARREN OF CHILDREN WOULD HAVE BEEN SPARED."

                "O Frith and Inle!" squealed Strawberry, "So El-ahrairah is the only pillar that resisted you?!"

                "That is impossible!" gasped Hazel, "No creature of Frith will ever be willing to yield themselves to your power, Elil-rah!!  If Frith had trusted them to be the support of the land beyond life, then those animals of Frith are noble and strong, strong enough to reject your lies and tricks!!"

                Elil-rah scoffed as he sniped, "YOU PUT TOO MUCH SIGHTLESS CONFIDENCE AND RELIANCE IN YOUR FELLOW CREATURES, HAZEL-RAH!  APARENTLY, IT DID NOT TAKE MUCH OF MY EFFORT TO LEAD THESE BEASTS TO FORSAKE THE CODE AND LAWS OF FRITH HIMSELF!  YET, IT IS FAR BETTER TO BE A RATIONAL TRAITOR THAN A COWARDLY IDIOT LIKE YOUR PRINCE OF THE THOUSAND!"

                "As if El-ahrairah would ever take the simple and dastardly way out like you have done countless of times, you lout!" bellowed Bluebell.

                "You are the fool, Elil-rah!  If you were a true opponent, you would have been honorable enough to be willing to battle El-ahrairah face to face rather than attack him indirectly by sickness, you craven!!" Campion roared.

                Elil-rah rumbled, annoyed, "IF ANY CREATURE SHOULD BE NAMED THE COWARD, IT SHOULD BE EL-AHRAIRAH!!  WHEN I REGAINED ENOUGH STRENGTH TO ENTER THIS LAND, I MADE MY OFFER OF POWER AND REWARDS TO ALL ANIMALS, ESPECIALLY THE CARETAKERS, PROMISING THEM UNTOLD GIFTS OF WISDOM AND MIGHT AND NOBILITY, SOMETHING FAR MORE THAN FRITH COULD EVER OFFER THEM!!  SOME READILY ACCEPTED, SUCH AS WOUNDWORT AND THE EFRAFANS, MAD FOR THEIR AMBITION, WHILE OTHERS, SUCH AS COWSLIP, JOINED SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY WISHED FOR VENGANCE AND FREEDOM!!  YET EL-AHRAIRAH REFUSED MY ADVANCES, AND DESPITE THE GIFTS, THE THREATS, AND THE VIOLENCE, HE CHOSE TO REMAINS STEADFAST AND FIGHT ME!!  AS IF THAT FOOLISH, OLD FURBALL COULD EVER MATCH MY POWER!!!  AND BY DOING SO, HE SENTENCED THE REST OF HIS CLAN TO SUFFER WHILE HE REMAINED UNSCATHED AND LET HIS BLINDLY-LOYAL MINIONS, SUCH AS YOU WRETCHES, FIGHT HIS BATTLE, A BATTLE HE IS TOO FEARFUL TO FACE!!!"

                "How dare you!!" shouted Bigwig, his jaw set and grim.

                However, something didn't add up.  Hoping to stall for time, though God only knew how it would do any good, Justin asked with bile, "Elil-rah, you…you said El-ahrairah was one of the caretakers of the land beyond life.  Who are the others?"

                Elil-rah's eyes slightly widened as if amused.  "HAVE YOU NOT GUESSED YET, YOU DAFT BOY?  YOU HAVE ALREADY MET THEM!  THE CARETAKERS OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN WERE ONCE SOME OF MY MOST POWERFUL AND LOYAL SOLDIERS OF MY OWSLA!!  KING DARZIN, WATCHER OF THE GRASSLANDS AND THE SEAS!  SCRY-RAH, THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES AND AIR!  SHARDIK, THE WATCHER OF THE MOUNTAINS AND EARTH!  PRINCE RAINBOW, THE WATCHER OF SOULS AND LIGHT!  THE KING OF YESTERDAY AND THE KING OF TOMORROW, THE WATCHERS OF THE FORESTS AND TIME!  AND OF COURSE, LASTLY, EL-AHRAIRAH, THE WATCHER OF PEACE AND HARMONY!"

                "What?!" gasped Pipkin, "That's impossible!"

                "Shardik?!  Scry-rah?!  The bloody kings of Yesterday and Tomorrow?!  O Frith and thunder!" cried out Bluebell.

                "But Shardik never acknowledged that he had the role of the pillar in the land beyond life!!" protested Fiver.

                Blackberry then realized there was a hole in that reasoning.  "It's a lie, Elil-rah!  You find there is a fatal flaw!!  You don't have the powers of all the caretakers!!  Shardik never allied himself to you and neither have the Kings of Yesterday and Tomorrow!!  They never declared themselves to be on the sides of your rule!  They were all still loyal to Frith!!  Thus, you do not have as much rule and power over the land beyond life as you once said!!"

                "He's right, you dark, lying, beast!!" Holly roared in ire, "If you truly had the authority to be the king of all in the land beyond life by stealing the gifts of responsibility from them, then would have also lost it when Scry-rah and Prince Rainbow had turned against you!!  Since they are no longer a part of your army, you no longer have them under your mind-trickery and control!!  Henceforth, you lost their consent to have you take over their powers blessed to them by Frith!!"

                Elil-rah laughed, his cold chortling rending the air like cold steel.  "YOU MISERABLE WRETCHES OF WATERSHIP DOWN MISUNDERSTAND WHEN I HAVE SAID THAT THEY HAVE JOINED MY OWSLA!  ONCE I HADTHEM ENLIST INTO MY RANKS, I HAD THE VERY SOULS OF KING DARZIN, SCRY-RAH, AND PRINCE RAINBOW BE TWISTED AND REBORN INTO THE VERY DARKNESS THAT SPAWNED MY POWER, GIVING THEM NEW IDENTITES AS SOLDIERS TO MY CAUSE, BUT BY DOING SO, I ALSO HAD TAKEN AWAY FROM THEM THE VERY GIFTS OF FRITH THEMSELVES.  THEIR ESSENCES OF FRITH, THEIR SOULS OF LIGHT, WERE ABSORBED INTO MY BEING, AND AS SUCH, THEIR ROLES AND IDENTITES OF THE CARETAKERS OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN WERE ABSORBED INTO MY BEING AS WELL.  EVEN AS I SPEAK, THE VERY POWERS OF FRITH GIVEN TO THEM COURSE THROUGH MY VERY VEINS, INFUSE MY VITALITY, AND HAS, IN TURN, BLESSED ME WITH THER POWER OF PILLAR MYSELF!!  EVEN THOUGH YOUR PRECIOUS CROSS-BEARER MANAGED TO HEAL AND DISSUADE SCRY-RAH AND PRINCE RAINBOW, AN EVENT EVEN I HAD NO IDEA OF FORETELLING, THEIR ROLES STILL LIVE INSIDE ME!!  THEY CAN NEVER REGAIN WHAT THEY HAD LOST, FOR IT IS NOW A PART OF ME!!  I AM NOW A PILLAR OF THE LAND BEYOND LIFE, FOR AS LONG AS I STILL EXIST IN THIS WORLD, I STILL HAVE THE GIFTS OF FRITH GIVEN TO THEM LOCKED DEEPLY IN THE BOWELS OF MY VIGOR, AND NO AMOUNT OF POWER FROM YOUR PITIFUL CROSS CAN EVER CHANGE THAT, CROSS-BEARER!!!"

                "But that does not explain how you came to receive the powers of Shardik, the King of Yesterday, and the King of Tomorrow!!" protested Hazel, bewildered.

                "SHARDIK WAS CHOSEN BY FRITH TO WATCH OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND EARTH AND BE THE CARETAKER OF THOSE REALMS DUE TO HIS MASSIVE STRENGTH AND EMPATHY.  HOWEVER, HE WAS SO HEAVILY SCARRED AND LADEN WITH GUILT AND PAIN FROM HIS PAST LIFE WITH THE HUMANS OF ORTELGA, HE REQUESTED THAT THE GIVEN ROLE BE SHARED WITH ANOTHER CREATURE, FOR HE NEVER WISHED TO BE GIVEN THE TRIALS AND TROUBLES THAT CAME WITH LEADERSHIP.  FRITH, THOUGH UNSETTLED WITH THAT REQUEST, GAVE THE GIFT OF CARETAKER TO BE A JOINT RESPONSIBILITY SHARED WITH ANOTHER ANIMAL IN SHARDIK'S PLACE OF HIS CHOOSING, AND SHARDIK CONTENTED HIMSELF TO BE THE ADVISOR OF THE STAG AND BISON OF THE FORESTS OF TIME."

                "But...but who was the beast Frith had chosen over Shardik??" sputtered a stupefied Speedwell.

                Elil-rah gave a small chuckle as he sneered, "IS IT NOT IRONIC?  THE ANIMAL CHOSEN TO BE THE PILLAR OF THE MOUNTAINS AND EARTH WAS THE LENDRI KING, THE BADGER YOU HAVE BATTLED SO MANY TIMES PREVIOUSLY...LORD BROCK!"

                "Well THAT explains it," griped Hawkbit.

                Pipkin's face contorted in revulsion as he seethed, "Why is it I am not surprised to see that the cowardly duffer easily gave up his role as the pillar once you came!!"

                Dandelion, dreading the answer, pushed, "And...and the Kings of Yesterday and Tomorrow?"

                "IT WAS NO DIFFERENT FROM THE STAG OF TOMORROW AND THE BISON OF YESTERDAY, YOU FOOLS.  IT WAS ALL SO EASY TO GAIN THEIR CONFIDENCE.  WHY DO YOU THINK I ORDERED MY OWSLA TO NOT ATTACK YOU AND ALLOW YOU THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE CROSS TO ENTER THEIR SACRED FORESTS?  I KNEW THEN THAT ONCE THE HUMAN CHILD CAME INTO THEIR KINGDOMS, HE WOULD BE KILLED, SAVING ME THE TROUBLE.  YET, SINCE HE MIRACULOUSLY ESCAPED, IT STILL DID NOT HINDER ME FROM CONVINCING THE ANIMALS OF THOSE KINGDOMS TO TURN AGAINST FRITH AND JOIN ME!!  AFTER THE DEBACLE, THE KINGS OF YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW AND ALL THEIR LOYAL SUBJECTS WILLINGLY PLACED THEIR SOULS AND TRUST INTO ME, GRANTING ME THEIR POWERS!!!"

                "What?!" gasped Acorn, "That cannot be!"

                "Those traitors!!" snarled Silver.

                "But...but why??  Why would they do that?!" Justin asked, horrified.

                "DO YOU NOT SEE IT, YOU FOOLISH CHILD?!  YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SEALED THE FATE OF THE LAND BEYOND LIFE!!  I MUST THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME CONVERT THE KING OF YESTERDAY AND THE KING OF TOMORROW OVER TO MY SIDE!!!  EVER SINCE YOUR DEPARTURE AND ESCAPE FROM PUNISHMENT, THE SUBJECTS OF BOTH KINGDOMS WERE, TO SAY THE LEAST, MAD AND INSANE WITH THE STING OF UNFAIRNESS AND FUMING BETRAYAL, FROM BOTH FRITH AND SHARDIK!  SO…I MERELY SENT MY OWSLA OVER TO THEIR PRESENCES, SUGGESTING THAT I CAN HELP THEM REGAIN THEIR DIGNITY AND AVENGE THEIR INSULT IF THEY ALLY MYSELF TO MY DOMINIONS!  AFTER ALL, THEY WISHED SO MUCH TO SEE YOU SUFFER YOUR DESERVED PUNISHMENTS, SO THEY READILY AGREED!" Elil-rah then chuckled as he continued in a pleased, sickeningly merry voice, "SO, I MUST THANK YOU JUSTIN FOR YOUR ARRIVAL!!  HAD YOU AND THE REST OF THE OWSLA OF WATERSHIP DOWN NEVER ARRIVED TO THE LANDS OF YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW, I WOULD NEVER HAD BEEN ABLE TO RECEIVE THEIR ALLIANCE AND LOYALTY!!  HAD YOU LEFT THEM ALONE, THEY WOULD HAVE REMAINED NEUTRAL AND WARY OF MY OFFERS OF POWER AND PROMISE!!  WITHOUT YOUR PRESENCE INVOKING SUCH MADNESS AND CHOAS AND HATRED, THE ANIMALS WOULD HAVE NEVER  TURNED AGAINST FRITH AND ALLOWED THE DARKNESS OF MY POWER TO ENTER THEIR HEARTS!!  DO YOU NOT SEE IT NOW, YOU FOOL?!!  YOU CAUSED THIS!!  YOU WERE THE CATALYST IN MY PLANS FOR DOMINATION OF WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY MINE!!!  AND YOU WERE TRULY THE ONE WHO WILL DOOM ALL CREATURES IN THE LAND BEYOND LIFE!!!"

                "Oh my God," whimpered Justin as he numbly clamped his hands over his mouth, shocked and appalled at what he had done.  He then remembered Rowf and Snitter's message of how Elil-rah said that Justin and El-ahrairah had roles in the demon's plans that included just more than their ultimate demise.  Then he recalled what the King of Tomorrow told him, how the stag's words rang out the truth of the inevitable events of to come, due to the presence of the human teenager.

                "Though meant for good, there are two sides of the one who bears the cross, just like night and day, air and land, spring and winter, and thus, peace and chaos. At the time of revelation, the one who was to heal shall also be the one to die, where there is life, there will be death, for the cross brings grave danger of unspeakable horrors to the Prince of a Thousand Enemies."

                It was true then.  Everything that Elil-rah's minions have accused Justin of, everything the King of Yesterday and Tomorrow have feared most, everything that Justin tried so hard to believe was not true, was in fact, the very facts etched in the stone of condemnation.  Justin truly did bring chaos to all those around him.  He truly was the one creature with a thousand enemies.

                "Justin, do not listen!!  It could not be helped!!  You had no idea this was to happen!!  It is NOT your fault!!" Bigwig barked huskily.

                "But...I still helped cause it," whimpered the teenager, "If it wasn't for me, Elil-rah would have never gotten their powers of the caretakers!"

                Buckthorn turned angrily to Elil-rah as he snarled, "But you have not won yet, you louse!  Justin has already healed El-ahrairah from your dark powers that were weakening him, to the point of deathly sickness!  Without El-ahrairah's consent to surrender the gift of caretaker, you still do not have full control of the land beyond life!  And you never will!!  There is no way by the Black Rabbit of Inle that you will ever replace our Prince as the pillar!"

                At this statement, Elil-rah had a malicious wicked gleam in his bloody eyes, a look of pure triumph, a look that none of the rabbits of Watership Down liked very much.  He said with murderous glee, "AH, BUT IT IS NOT AS YOU SAY, BUCKTHORN!  FOR THIS WILL BE THE DAY EL-AHRAIRAH IS FATED TO DIE!"

                "You are a fool!" scoffed Bluebell, "You have obviously forgotten that no creature can die once they enter the land beyond life!"

                "And El-ahrairah is no ordinary rabbit like us!  He is immortal!  Because of that blessing of life, you cannot kill him, no matter how hard you try!" challenged Acorn.

                "AH, BUT YOU DO NOT REALIZE THAT JUSTIN CAN DIE, ESPECIALLY SINCE HE IS LINKED TO THE PRINCE OF ALL RABBITS!"

                Everyone went still, tharn with dread and shock, and even the allies at the warren of El-ahrairah were deathly silent.

                "What are you saying?" Campion asked slowly, his ears and whiskers twitching.

                "SO EVEN NOW, AFTER ALL THIS TIME, YOU HAD NO IDEA, DID YOU, JUSTIN?  YOU SEE, THERE IS ANOTHER REASON WHY YOU ARE REGARDED AS 'THE PRINCE-OF-THE-THOUSAND' IN THE PROPHECY.  AS YOU AND EL-AHRAIRAH BOTH SHARE THAT NAME, IT IS ALSO BECAUSE YOU SHARE THE SAME SOULS!!!  JUSTIN, YOU AND EL-AHRAIRAH ARE ONE AND THE SAME!!!  THIS IS BECAUSE A PIECE OF EL-AHRAIRAH'S HEART RESTS INSIDE YOU!!!"

                "WHAT??!!!" chorused everyone in the fields, unwilling to believe it.

                "It cannot be!" Strawberry cried.

                "You're lying!  You must be lying!  It isn't true!" accused Speedwell heatedly.

                Justin's head was reeling, making him lightheaded.

                "El-ahrairah…is inside…me??" he gasped weakly.  He then remembered that when he had healed the Prince of all Rabbits, the gentle patriarch gave him the cryptic comment before succumbing to unconsciousness.

                "You...still...have...it...inside you...", "You...still...have...it...inside you...", "You...still...have...it...inside you...".  The voice of memory was relentless, pounding in every crevice of the teen's mind, damning him to the entire bleak truth.  Elil-rah, seeing the boy had finally cracked, continued to drawl in a superior, snide, and mocking timbre.

                "IT SHOCKS YOU, DOES IT NOT, YOUNG ONE?  AFTER ALL THIS TIME, YOU NEVER REALIZED THAT IT WAS THE ONLY REASON YOU WERE CHOSEN FOR BEING THE CROSS-BEARER AND THE ONLY ONE TO HELP EL-AHRAIRAH.  IT WAS NOT BECAUSE YOU WERE SPECIAL, IT WAS NOT BECAUSE YOU WERE PURE AND KIND, BUT BECAUSE EL-AHRAIRAH HAD MARKED YOU AS A TARGET FOR HATRED AND SCORN.  IT EXPLAINS WHY EVEN BACK IN YOUR OWN WORLD, WHY YOUR OWN FATHER WAS DISGUSTED BY YOU, WHY YOUR VERY OWN MOTHER HAD ABANDONED YOU, AND WHY YOUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS TEASE YOU, MOCK YOU, AND TORTURE YOU TO THE POINT OF INSANITY.  IT WAS BECAUSE EL-AHRAIRAH AND PLACED A FRAGMENT OF HIS HEART, HIS SOUL, HIS POWER, INTO YOU FROM THE VERY DAY YOU BEGAN YOUR PATHETIC EXISTENCE."

                "Stop it!  Leave him alone!!" cried Hazel.  Justin was shivering now.

                "WHY DID YOU THINK THAT YOU WERE CHOSEN OUT OF SO MANY OTHER HUMANS TO BE THE CROSS-BEARER?  AFTER ALL, SO MANY OTHERS ARE CERTAINLY MORE COMPETENT THAN YOU COULD EVER BE CAPABLE.  IT MAKES YOU ANGRY, DOESN'T IT, JUSTIN?  KNOWING THAT EL-AHRAIRAH HAD ULTIMATELY CURSED YOU, ENDANGERED YOU, THAT HE HAD PLACED YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE AND RISKING YOUR LIFE WITHOUT GIVING A DAMN ABOUT YOU OR YOUR WELFARE.  THAT IS WHY THE RABBITS OF WATERSHIP DOWN WERE SO WORRIED ABOUT YOUR SAFETY AND WELL-BEING.  IT WAS NOT BECAUSE THEY CARED ABOUT YOU; THEY ONLY CARED ABOUT YOUR POWER AND HOW YOU HELD EL-AHRAIRAH'S HEART, THE ONLY THING THAT COULD MAKE HIS SPIRIT WHOLE.  ONCE YOUR JOB WAS DONE, YOU WERE TO BE ABANDONED, CAST ASIDE AND FORGOTTEN, LIKE SO MANY OTHERS HAVE TREATED YOU BEFORE, ONCE AGAIN SUBJECTING YOU TO LONELINESS AND SADNESS."

                "Justin, for the sake of Frith and El-ahrairah, do not listen!  None of it is true!" Strawberry wheedled.

                "Justin, keep hold of your head!  We cared about you, regardless of your power or faults!  El-ahrairah chose you to be the cross-bearer because you are strong, not weak!  You never were weak, and Elil-rah is one who is the fool!  Do not give in to his lies!" growled Bigwig.

                Justin did not answer, hugging his arms close to his chest.  He felt betrayed, violated even.  He never asked for this, never asked to be the cross-bearer, never asked for the responsibilities and the dangers that came with the role of being the one messenger to fight Elil-rah and the land beyond life.  And without a care, without a damn, El-ahrairah, without Justin's knowledge or consent, endangered his life by placing a piece of his heart and soul into the boy, forever marking him as a target.  The boy, in shocked outrage, could only think to himself accusations.  How dare he?!  How could El-ahrairah do this to him?!  How could he just pick him out of the blue to fight something that could cost him his life?!

                Meanwhile, the other rabbits were furiously and frantically contemplating what Elil-rah had just told them.

                "So...if this is true, then...why??  Why did El-ahrairah put his heart in Justin?!" wheezed Pipkin, trembling with fear at the possibility.

                Elil-rah jeered, "IT WAS A FINAL, PITIABLE STRATEGY OF YOUR BENEVOLENT PRINCE, YOU FOOLS!  EL-AHRAIRAH, THOUGH I COULD NOT TEMPT INTO SURRENDERING HIS GIFT OF PILLAR, WAS NOT INVINCIBLE!  MY PLAN WAS TO MAKE HIM ILL, DISEASED AND RIDDEN WITH THE PAIN OF A THOUSAND HELLFIRES THROUGH INFECTION OF THE DARKNESS, TO FOREFULLY BELEAGUER THE RABBIT LEADER UNTIL HE WOULD BE TOO WEAK TO EVEN FIGHT AND DEFEND HIS HOME AND LEGACY FROM MY OWSLA!  ONCE I CONQUERED HIS REALM AND LANDS, I WOULD BE ABLE TO CLAIM HIS ROLE OF CARETAKER IN THE TAKEOVER AND CLAIM MY RIGHT AS KING IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN!  YET...IT WAS NOT TO BE.  LIKE A TRUE PEST, YOUR PRINCE MANAGED TO KEEP HIDDEN FROM ME A FINAL TRICK, A STRATEGIC MOVE THAT NOT EVEN I COULD ANTICIPATE HIM HAVING THE NERVE AND COURAGE TO ACCOMPLISH, A SAFEGUARD TO PROTECT YOU USELESS RABBITS IN THE EVENT THAT I COULD DEFEAT HIM.  MY AURA, THOUGH IT CONTINUED TO DAMAGE AND ENFEEBLE EL-AHRAIRAH, COULD NOT COMPLETELY EXTINGUISH HIS FIRE, HIS PASSION, THE VIGOR AND MIGHT THAT STEMMED FROM HIS SOUL.  NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRIED, I COULD NOT UTTERLY CRUSH HIS SPIRIT.  IT WAS THEN THAT I SENSED THAT THE REASON I COULD NOT FULLY SMOTHER YOUR PRINCE WAS BECAUSE I COULD NOT KILL ALL OF HIS SOUL.  THERE WAS A LARGE FRAGMENT OF HIS HEART THAT WAS MISSING FROM HIS PRESENCE, HIS VERY SYMBOL AND ESSENCE OF POWER.  AS LONG AS THAT PART OF THE HEART REMAINED HIDDEN AND OUT OF MY GRASP, I COULD NOT FULLY INFLICT EL-AHRAIRAH TO THE POINT OF HIS DEMISE FOR THAT ONE, LONE, DAMNED SHARD, FREE OF THE AILMENTS I INFLICTED, CONTINUED TO GIVE HIM STRENGTH AND RESISTANCE.  IF IT WERE NOT FOR THAT PART OF HIS HEART THAT EXISTED, YOUR PRINCE OF ALL RABBITS WOULD HAVE DIED A THOUSAND FOLD!!  IT WAS THEN THAT I KNEW THAT THE MISSING SHARD OF EL-AHRAIRAH'S SOUL WAS SOMEWHERE, AWAY FROM MY INFLUENCE.  BUT UNFORTUNATELY, I DID NOT KNOW WHERE.  IN THAT MOMENT, I REALIZED THAT THIS MEANT THE LEGEND OF THE CROSS-BEARER, A HUMAN BOY SENT TO BATTLE AND PROTECT THIS LAND, MAY COME TO PASS AND THAT IF THERE EVER WAS A LIKELY CANDIDATE FOR A CREATURE TO BEAR EL-AHRAIRAH'S HEART, IT WOULD BE THE CROSS-BEARER HIMSELF.  AND SO I WAITED AND WAITED UNTIL THE CHILD WAS SUMMONED INTO THIS WORLD.  AND THEN...I KNEW!!  I KNEW!!!  I KNEW THAT THEN, ONCE JUSTIN WAS SUMMONED TO THE LAND BEYOND LIFE, I COULD FINALLY RID THIS WORLD OF THAT TROUBLESOME PARASITE, EL-AHRAIRAH!!!  BECAUSE ONCE JUSTIN DIED, EL-AHRAIRAH WOULD DIE WITH HIM!!!  SINCE THEY SHARE THE SAME SOUL, IF ONE LIVES, THEY BOTH SHALL LIVE!!  BUT IF ONE DIES...THEY BOTH WILL DIE!!!"

                "O Frith and Inle!!" sobbed Dandelion.

                "So THAT was why you sent the Owsla to continuously attack Justin!" roared Holly, "Not only would you prevent the boy from fighting you, but you would also be able to destroy our Prince as well!!"

                Blackberry then realized with horror, "And...Justin is a human, a living being from the physical world.  So...unlike us spirits...he can be injured and be killed..."

                Fiver turned white beneath his tan fur as he spoke with dawning comprehension, "And that means if Justin dies in this battle..."

                "...then we all will lose and the land beyond life will fall to Elil-rah!!" squealed Bluebell.

                Justin's breath turned nearly to sobbing as Elil-rah faced the cowering teenager in front of him.

                "IT IS INEVITABLE, CROSS-BEARER.  YOU WERE NEVER FATED TO WIN...BUT TO DIE BY MY HANDS!!!"

                "We won't let that happen, damn you!!" Hazel cursed with contempt.

                "May Frith blast you with all that is good and holy!!  You are not fit to even exist as the dirt of a lowly dung beetle, you wretch!!" Bigwig snapped.

                "We will kill you before you even lay a paw on Justin!!" challenged Campion bravely.

                Elil-rah then leered as the smoke billowing around his eyes thickened and coagulated, merging with his spirit and evil foulness to create his own image of deception and treacherous vile.  As once said, the power of all the authorities from the caretakers that Frith had assigned to safeguard the land beyond life was now seeping into his vein, giving him infinite power and vigor.

                Elil-rah laughed cruelly as he said, "YOU FOOLS!!  HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THE PREMONITION OF DOOM YOUR SEER, FIVER, HAD TOLD YOU?!!  I CANNOT BE KILLED!!  I CANNOT LOSE THIS BATTLE!!  FOR IT HAS BEEN PROPHESIZED AND IT SHALL ALWAYS BE…FOR NO RABBIT OR MAN CAN KILL ME!!!"

                "I am starting to get very sick of these embleer prophecies," muttered Hawkbit to himself in extreme annoyance.

                Then, with roars of the crashing thunder and fiercest storms, Elil-rah, emerging from the smoke, had shown, at last, his true form.

                Elil-rah was, simply put, a demon, but he was a demon no human mind could ever put in image or words.  The beast was truly a monstrosity only infamous for being one of Satan's strongest warriors.  Elil-rah was a gargantuan four-legged beast, with fur darker than the smoke swirling around him, glistening with blood and gore, which matted his fur with sickening, disgusting revulsion.  The legs were similar to a wolf, except that his forepaws were that of the sturdy lion, with huge claws, harder than diamond and so sharp, they could slice mountains to rubble in mere seconds, down to the very molecular entity.  The hind legs were those of a horse, and instead of a tail, Elil-rah has a writhing, hissing cobra snake, exposing its hood and spitting venom from its wicked fangs as it looked from its posterior position.  The dark creature had five heads altogether, clustered closely from a single, thick, furry, corded neck.  One was the head of an intimidating black wolf, with drooling, rabid, yellow teeth and a snout snarled in a bloodthirsty, savage howl.  Another head was a goat with ebony fur and a pale beard strung under its gaunt chin, dark horns curving behind its head, and it was staring silently, its face engulfed in shadows.  The next one was the actual, terrifying head of a gigantic spider, and this literally petrified the heart of the human teen the minute he stared into its multiple, yellow eyes.  It made strange sounds that were a combination of hisses and shrieks of scratched glass as its clawed mandibles clicked together with anticipation, offering brief glimpses into its small, circular mouth ringed with poisonous, little teeth.  Alongside was the head of a crow, cawing and screeching its death cry as a toll for all who would perish in this battle, a long sharp beak and sleek, preened raven feathers.  And in the very center, with the other four heads encircling it, was the fifth head, a flaming, black human skull, with a sharp jawbone, rotting teeth etched with black grime, glowing embers encircling it like a corona, and in those endless pools of darkness, the eye sockets showed a malicious, unholy small orb of red light to serve a pupil, a beacon, in that sea of pure, disgusting horror.  And on each of the five heads was a circle with an upside-down star embedded within, drawn in blood and glowing like lava.  The mark of the evil beast, as it was once prophesized in the Book of Revelations in the Bible.  And now, the beast was now exposed to show all of its foul, sinful abomination.

                Justin, to say the least, was morbidly terrified and what miniscule amount of hope and courage he had resolved himself with was fleeting like water through cupped hands.  The shadow cast by the huge beast shrouded all of them in a death cloak of foreboding doom.  The rabbits of the Owsla of El-ahrairah, on the other hand, were resolute in their stand.  It was now or never.  Not even Pipkin and Fiver trembled as they stood on their hind legs and braced themselves for the battle.  Elil-rah was hardly surprised to see that the rabbits of Watership Down still stood firm in their stance alongside Justin.

                "HOW AMUSING, TO SEE YOU WHELPS THINKING THAT YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A CHANCE TO DESTROY ME."

                Hazel commanded to Justin, "Quickly, young one!!  Give us our powers!!  For the sake of El-ahrairah and all that is holy, help us fight this beast!!!"

                "GIVE THEM STRENGTH!!!" bellowed the teenager, the sudden, surprising feat of courage emerging from the tight, cocoon-like prison of fear and hopelessness, as Justin gripped the crystal, orange cross so tightly, the jewel cut against his skin of his palm.  Instantaneously, all fifteen rabbits were bathed with the light of the cross, blessing them with their powers.

                However, Elil-rah also had a surprise up his devious plan, and with a disembodied scream, the head of the human skull started to glow in a foul green flame, the fires now emerald green.  With a sudden lunge, the other four heads started to push their way out of the neck of the beast, grunting laboriously like a butterfly trying to fight its way out of a packed chrysalis.  With revulsion, the fellowship could only stare, mesmerized, as the heads of the raven, wolf, spider, and goat grew into humanoid bodies, writhing and freeing themselves from the bloody membranes and tissue and flesh of Elil-rah.  With growls of satisfied triumph, the four bodies separated themselves from the neck of the giant behemoth and landed heavily onto the ground.  Now, standing before the Watership Owsla and the cross-bearer, were four, tall, menacing figures, robust, relentless, and completely ominous.

                The goat was now a slim, malnourished stature with black fur and whose pelt clung tightly to its bony frame, giving the demon a look of a starved, emaciated victim of hunger.  The demon was now standing upright and instead of hooves, it had forearms ending with bony claws.  Draped futilely around its body was a brown, dusty, ragged, threadbare cloak and robe, which barely managed to stay attached to the monster's skeleton.

                The raven was an upright, anthropomorphic feathered gargoyle, dressed in black, iron armor, complete with a breastplate, tunic, cape, and a helmet positioned regally onto its crown.  Its forearms and clawed talons were emblazoned with ebony, iron bracelets and within its hands, it carried a glass, corked, bottle that contained a hurricane of swirling colors, insubstantial and glowing hotly.

                The spider was a monstrous abomination that could give nightmares to the calmest, composed men and leave their minds broken and muddled with tears and dread like children.  The spider, though it seemed natural enough, was a towering mammoth, with a black body and thick, amber, supple hairy legs.  Its posterior was colossal, twice as large as the rest of the spider's body, and not only did it bear the mark of the satanic beast underneath in red, glowing flesh, but it also was covered with sticky webbing, and strung on that webbing, to the disgust of the Watership Owsla, were the various multitude of animal skulls, long since stripped of flesh and drained of blood, now used as gruesome displays of trophies.  Already, with its front-most legs, the spider was threading foggy wisps of acidic threads and stretching it like yarn from its rear end.

                The wolf was now a muscular, humanoid horseman, riding a winged, black horse spewing fire from its mouth as its emerald, glowing eyes rolled wildly in every direction.  The wings of the horse were similar to those of a bat, thin, stretched tightly with pulsating membranes.  The wolf, though humanlike, was disgustingly naked, and without shame, the wolf bore his reprehensible pride as a banner as it carried a shield and a sword, both of them stainless steel, but the silvery metal was streaked with the blood of fallen soldiers in the heat of combat. 

                "YOU ARE NOW FINISHED, CROSS-BEARER!!!  NO MAGIC TRICKS FROM YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC RABBITS CAN SAVE THIS LAND FROM ME…FOR BEHOLD, WITNESS THE BIRTH OF MY POWER, THE FOUR HELLIONS OF THE APOCALYPSE!!!  PLAGUE, WAR, DISCORD, AND FAMINE!!!  AND NOW, MY LOYAL BLACKGUARDS, MY CREATURES OF MY FOULEST BLOOD, STRIKE!!!  WITNESS AND DESPAIR THE SIGNS OF THE DOOM OF ALL BLESSED BY FRITH!!!" bellowed the voice of Elil-rah from the lone, remaining head (the human skull) as the four forms of Elil-rah now advanced towards Justin and the fellowship of the cross.

                The battle had now begun.  The wolf, the Hellion of War, jerked on the reins of his steed, and with a neigh, the steed flew upwards, and with a battle howl, the wolf sent forth bolts of fire into the sky, having the clouds glow in the color of fiery blood against the smoke as comets and meteors began to rain down, tearing apart the meadows of Fenlo and causing devastating explosions, invoking fires and combustions to rip the very soil and shake the solid floor.  The goat spread his arms in front of him, as if making a pleading offering, as he whinnied a resounding "Baaahhhhh!"  True to his namesake, the Hellion of Famine opened his mouth, and to the horror of the Watership soldiers, the grass began to whither and die, and every berry, every fruit, every succulent flora, root, and nut crumbled to dust as the ethereal essences of the endless bounty of El-ahrairah's kingdom wafted into the thin air, only to be sucked into the endless goat's mouth, to vanish into the yawning black hole with no end to the demon's endless hunger.  The crow and the spider, the Hellion of Plague and the Hellion of Discord, remained solitary, making no move and just watching the rabbits intently, but the two other beasts would do enough destruction if they were not stopped.

                As one, the rabbit soldiers of the Owsla of El-ahrairah charged as one, with the cross-bearer riding on the back of the valiant Hazel-rah.

                Bigwig, now in his dog form, Dandelion, and an army of a thousand Acorn replicas charged towards the crow.  Yet that was exactly what the Hellion was waiting for and without further ado, the crow uncorked the bottle in his hands, and with a flurry of burning, sharp wind, a mighty force of haze and choking dust shot out of the mouth of the urn, and now free, the air around them began to grow thick, almost suffocating them, and as it spread, the dry mists enveloped Bigwig and the legion of Acorns.  Dandelion was able to teleport out of the way and magically appeared behind the Hellion.  Bigwig collapsed in unbearable pain, twitching and rolling around in the grass, trying to brashly rise back onto his paws, but his eyes were now covered with crusts of pus and bacterial infection, blinding him, and his breathing was raspy, laborious, as mucus and foam clogged his windpipe, making the soldier vomit bile.  All over his black fur were blisters and boils, so red and irritating, there was nothing else on Bigwig's mind as he rolled over and over, trying to scratch them.

                Bigwig managed to choke, coughing on his green vomit, "I...I...can't...can't breathe!!  I can't...see!  I...I'm...so...so..."  Yet the rabbit could not finish and nearly passed out from the diseases inflicting on his as the cross-bearer's magic was broken and Bigwig transformed back to his normal rabbit form, still ridden with the ailments.  Acorn and his horde of clones were not faring much better.

                "Make it stop!!  Make it stop!!!" sobbed Acorn as one by one, his army toppled over on the grass, lifeless, rotting corpses as flies and maggots feasted upon their flesh and organs.  Acorn, the original one, still managed to be the least sick out of all of them, but he was too weak to even stand on his own paws and he toppled over onto his side as the fleas of the White Blindness swarmed over his ears.  But the Watership warrior was too weak to do anything about it.  Dandelion, seeing the danger, managed to charge and teleport next the crow monster, making a grab for the bottle of plagues and diseases.

                "I've got it!" cheered the golden storyteller as he managed to wrench the vase from the hands of the startled Hellion, but the imp merely smiled as the glass began to glow in a white-hot light, and shrieking in pain, Dandelion dropped the bottle onto the ground.  His paws, touching the bottle, invoked its defense in that only the Hellion of Plague can hold and utilize the weapon, and any other animal unfortunate enough to try such a foolish stunt would have the very flesh of its body rot and dissolve away like melted wax.  And that was what happened as slowly, but surely, the tissue of Dandelion's paws fell away, chuck by chunk, exposing the bones and claws of his appendages, and crying Dandelion could only sink to his knees, hugging his paws close to his chest to lessen the pain.

                The spider, the Hellion of Discord, then threw its threads of deceit and hatred into the air where it evaporated in the air as Buckthorn, Campion, Fiver, and Speedwell rushed towards it.  Speedwell, in his astral projection, leaving his body safely behind over at the sidelines, managed to float towards the spider, hoping to possess it as he did before.  Yet, to his horror, he abruptly could not move, and with a faint gleam, the silver strands of the Hellion's webbing appeared, littering the very space above them, like a net and displaying the trapped spirit like a marionette.

                "I...I'm stuck!!  I can't move!!" yelled Speedwell.

                "O Frith in a barn!!  Buckthorn, help Speedwell!!  Please!!" Fiver gasped as he looked above with disconcerting worry.  Buckthorn was about to leap up and cut his comrade free from his prison with his golden sword, but then the silent, burly warrior twitched, his body now remaining unmoving and still as stone.  Buckthorn's blue eyes widened in aghast astonishment as he struggled.  No matter how hard he fought it, he could not control his body.  It would not obey the commands of his brain.  To his further terror, ignoring his mind, his body, on its own, forced Buckthorn to move and jump nimbly with a powerful leap towards Speedwell with the sword gripped in his paw.  There was a sudden blur and Speedwell screamed, and the astral spirit could only whimper as now there was a diagonal slash across his chest, bleeding and dripping ghostly, red blood.  Apparently, Buckthorn's sword could do damage to ghosts and spirits.

                "Buckthorn, what are you doing?!" choked Speedwell, tears in his eyes, as he fought to not faint from the pain in his midsection.  Buckthorn, his fur cold with sweat and fear, managed to utter, his mouth still in his control, as his body betrayed him again by moving on its own accord.

                "I'm sorry Speedwell, old chap!!  I cannot control it!!  My body isn't moving of my own free will!!  I'm NOT doing this!!  Something is controlling me!!  I cannot stop it!!"  With that, Buckthorn made another leap, and with a loud holler of pain, the astral projection of Speedwell now sported an ugly laceration across his back, between his shoulder blades and nicking his backbone.  Buckthorn, realizing he could do nothing, had rivers of helpless tears streaming from his wide eyes as he moved for another attack again.

                "Speedwell, please, get back to your body!!  If you do not, I'll hurt you even further!!" begged the burly rabbit.  Speedwell struggled and writher but cried powerlessly, "I cannot, bucko!!  I'm trapped!!  The web won't even let me move!!  STOP THIS, PLEASE!!  Buckthorn, stop it!!  Fight it!!"

                "I can't!!!" sobbed Buckthorn as he struck Speedwell a third time, decapitating the rabbit's right ear.

                Fiver then took a closer look and realized that attached to Buckthorn's arms, legs, and body were dim strands of webbing, and they were stringing along the Watership Owsla like a puppet.  Immediately guessing the reason, Fiver turned to the spider to see, to his outrage, the very ends of the threads emanating from the front legs of the Hellion of Discord, and like a wicked puppet master, the spider cackled with sick glee as his legs guided the helpless Buckthorn into striking the astral projection of Speedwell.  Fiver was about to charge and tackle the spider monster, hoping to distract it, when all of a sudden, he was struck from behind, and to his shock, he turned to see it was Campion, seething and shaking with rage.

                "Campion??" gasped Fiver.

                Campion yelled at him, "It's all your fault!!  Everyone has died because of you!!  How could you betray us like that?!!  How could you turn traitor on El-ahrairah and all of your comrades?!!  You merciless, damned wretch!!  I'll kill you!!"

                Fiver was floored, stunned.  "Campion, stop!!  What are you doing?!  You are making no sense!!"

                Campion, now completely made with insane anger and bloodlust, tackled Fiver, scratching, clawing, and cuffing Fiver as he vainly tried to pin down the small seer, trying to burrow his teeth into his friend's throat as the heavy rabbit was nearly crushing the dwarf with his weight.  This was not the reserved, noble Campion the rabbits had always known; this was a rabbit bent on an immediate kill, full of hot-blooded war and mindless strife.  Fiver, as he defended himself as best as he could, saw, to his panic, that Campion's eyes were covered with the sticky substance of the spider's fibers, the cobwebs now forming a thick glob of material over Campion's face and blinding him.  True to his nature, the spider managed to cover Campion's sight and invoked the very wells of endless hurt and antagonism, causing the rabbit to turn on his own friends and allies.  As long as the spider kept the threads of lies and deceitfulness over the field, Campion's sense of reality would be distorted and he would have no idea what he would be doing.

                Fiver was crying as Campion continued to throttle him, "Campion, wake up!!  You're being tricked!!  Snap out of it, please!!  It's me, Fiver!!!  Don't you remember?!!"

                "Shut up!!" roared Campion, the words of Fiver having no effect, "No more lies, you scum!!"

                Meanwhile, the efforts of Strawberry, Holly, and Silver were not hindering the Hellion of Famine in the least bit.  No matter how hard Strawberry shook the earth and sent wave after wave of earth to bury the goat, it simply passed him like a ghost.  Holly's rending attacks had the very same result.  In short, no matter what, the powers blessed to them by the cross had no effect on the soldier of Elil-rah.  They continued to go through him.

                "Nothing is working!!" yelled Strawberry, his heart pounding furiously.

                "We cannot stop, chap!!  Everything in the meadows of Fenlo is dying and being swallowed by that greedy brute!" Holly sighed wearily.

                Silver however was not willing to give up, and shaking with offensive ire, the fat rabbit charged towards the goat, snarling, "I WILL KILL YOU!!!"

                "Silver, NO!!  Stop!!  We don't know what will happen!!" cried Holly, trying to prevent his friend from doing something rash, but it was too late.  The heavy Owsla veteran made a brutal leap, intent on tackling the goat, but the demon continued to inhale every rich nutrient from the meadows, not even showing the slightest sign that it was surprised at the determination of the Lapine soldier.  Within a second, Silver passed through the specter, but to Strawberry and Holly's collective horror, it did not leave Silver unaffected.  As the Owsla soldier passed through the wraithlike form, his body began to feel weak, drained, and his vision blurred as the burning numbness of fatigue and weakness overwhelmed his senses.  Silver crumpled onto the dead grass, and mad with concern, Strawberry and Holly rushed over to their comrade's aid.

                "Silver!  Silver, are you all right?!  Wake up!  Wake, please!!" begged Strawberry as he sniffed and licked Silver's face, but to their appalled astonishment, Silver's body started to implode, waste away, and the skin and fur began to limp and sag as Silver became thinner and thinner at an alarming rate.  If this kept up, Silver would be nothing more than an atrophied, malnourished skeleton, too weak to talk or move.

                Silver managed to whimper as his vigor left him, "I'm so cold...it's so cold....I can't...I can't move...I'm so hungry...I can't...I'm so hungry..."

                "Holly, what's wrong with him?!" gasped Strawberry as he tried to comfort his friend.

                Holly gave an aggravated sigh as he looked at the Hellion of Famine, "The bloody Hellion is a specter, a ghost, so any of our attacks would probably not do it much harm, like the ghosts of those rabbits that attacked Justin and Speedwell in the dream world.  But, damn it all, Silver!  Did you have to rush in like that?!  The embleer Hellion is probably also feeding off you as well!  Since you touched it, it must have given it the chance to swallow your strength and energy, just like it is doing with all the food in El-ahrairah's warren!  Oh, Silver, you idiot!"  Holly nearly sobbed that last sentence as he touched his nose to Silver's.  Hazel and Justin ran up to them.

                Hazel then took strategic control, surveying the predicament, "Justin, I need you to heal Silver right now, but still stay on my back!  I do not wish for you to put yourself into danger by separating yourself from my protection as more than necessary!  Holly, Strawberry, we cannot stop the Hellion goat as of now, but your gifts can attack the Hellions of Plague and Discord!  Holly, help Fiver and the others by attacking the spider!  Strawberry, go after the crow, and for Frith's sake, both of you do not stop in your attacks!"

                Strawberry and Holly gave a fierce nod and they took off.  Justin was already bathing the trembling, enervated Silver with the golden light.

                Meanwhile, Pipkin, Hawkbit, Blackberry, and Bluebell were doing their best to contain the wolf horseman from doing any more damage while avoiding the narrow brushes with the meteors and fires and combustive attacks.  Blackberry then hit upon the inspiration to have the entire meadows littered with rainstorms, fierce, unrelenting clouds that let loose torrents and torrents of water en masse.  The fields, little by little, became drenched and the fires began to subside, as the subtle, controlled flooding managed to extinguish the flames.  The downpour even had a profound effect on the fiery winged steed of the Hellion, and with its fur soaked, coldness seeping to its very heart, the horse had trouble maintaining its strength, and with fury, the wolf glared at Blackberry as the buck then caused the rain to turn into hail and sleet, the winds now starting to pick up brutally.  Despite it all, the Hellion of War managed to summon forth more comets to assail and pummel the black-eared inventor to a ashy carcass, but Bluebell was quicker.

                "Time stop!!" the Watership jokester cried, and with a flash, the comets and meteors froze, harmless, frozen, and no amount of effort from the wolf could free them from the spell that Bluebell had cast with his gift.  Despite the snow and hail pounding against him, the wolf Hellion became even more enraged, and snarling, his sword began to glow in an emerald green light with blue and black flames swirling and churning around the searing, razor-sharp metal.  With a howl, the wolf swung with his weapon and a wave of black and sapphire inferno came rushing directly at Blackberry and Bluebell.

                "Blackberry, get out of the way!" cried Bluebell as he dragged his friend out of the path, and the conflagration narrowly missed them, but the force of the attack caused such an angry outburst of power, it temporarily knocked the two bucks senseless, and they struggled to rise as the Hellion aimed with his sword again.  However, Hawkbit was quicker.

                "Fireball!" the blackish rabbit summoned, and with a glimmer of golden sparks, the flames bathing the sword of the Hellion disappeared, only to emerge as a sphere of energy, burning and glowing, into Hawkbit's paws.  With a grunt, Hawkbit flung the fireball directly back to the Hellion in the skies above.  The wolf demon barely had time to use his shield to block the attack, but the flames still managed to swell around and lick at his fur and the wings of his steed, singing the both of them with soot and burns.  Enraged, the wolf was about to attack Hawkbit, but Pipkin managed to intervene.

                "Take this, you embleer bully!!" cried Pipkin as he swooped down with his wings at full, maximum velocity, and like a cannonball, the winged, diminutive rabbit rammed himself into the wolf, completely taking the Hellion of War off-guard.  With the tackle, the Hellion lost his balance and fell off his steed, plummeting down to the ground with a resounding crash.  Pipkin was overjoyed at his victory, but unfortunately, his back was turned to the winged steed, so he didn't see the horse spew a stream of hot, merciless flame directly at his back until it was too late.  But the buck certainly felt the results.

                Pipkin screamed as the fire engulfed him before he lost consciousness, and thought the ongoing rain managed to prevent the buck from turning into a smoldering pile of embers and ash, the buck was still comatose as he plummeted back down to the ground, his wings vanishing with a gleam of gold.

                "PIPKIN!" hollered Hawkbit, helpless that he could not do anything.  Then, to his joy, a familiar voice rang out amidst the storm.

                "Levitate!" and within moments, a golden ring appeared around the unconscious body of Pipkin, slowing down his descent, and like a true hero, a more or less healed Silver managed to run and position himself underneath Pipkin before catching him gently in his paws.  Relieved, Hawkbit joined Blackberry and Bluebell as they pounded ferociously on the Hellion of War.

                Holly managed to rent the thread of the webs surrounding the area, and to their great joy, Campion, Speedwell, and Buckthorn were free from the spider's deceitful magic.  Speedwell, once returning back to his body, allowed Justin to heal him while Holly and Campion used a combination of their powers untied to set the spider on fire with painful lacerations, and Buckthorn set work to hacking away at the spider's limbs.

                Strawberry managed to send another tidal wave of earth to crash upon the crow, and shrieking, the Hellion of Plague was buried under the rubble of rock and dirt.  Hazel used the time of distraction to cover Acorn, Dandelion and Bigwig from the disease inflicted by the crow, and now that Justin was finished with Speedwell, cast the light of healing upon all three of them, erasing their wounds.  With a caw, the Hellion managed to extract himself out of the dirt before flailing upon the rabbits with his claws and talons.  Undaunted, Bigwig, Dandelion, Acorn, and Strawberry fought back.

                Unluckily, Hazel was alone with the boy, and that was what Elil-rah was finally waiting for.  With hardly any effort, the remaining head managed to remove itself from the neck of the gigantic beast and jumped towards the teenage cross-bearer and the leader of the Watership Owsla.  The skull was now a ebony skeleton, immersed with green and black fires, and the figure wore a tattered, black cloak, torn and ripped, but what was most lethal was in its hands, the fiendish skeleton carried a wicked scythe.

                Hazel gasped as he saw the figure approach towards them, and with an upward flick of his paws, the buck managed to create a protective shield of sunlight to encompass both him and Justin, but undaunted, the skeleton slashed and hammered away at the shield, each blow actually sending pain in Hazel's body as he felt the ruthlessness of the attack.  Wincing, Hazel tried his best to maintain the sunlight of protection as the skeleton crowed in Elil-rah's voice.

                "YOU CAN NEVER WIN, HAZEL-RAH!!!  YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC SOLDIERS OF EL-AHRAIRAH DO NOT HAVE A CHANCE AGAINST MY WILL AND POWER!!  FOR I AM HERE TO COLLECT THE CROSS-BEARER'S LIFE, AND NOT EVEN YOU RABBITS CAN STOP DEATH, THE ONE AILMENT THAT NO AMOUNT OF POWER AND MAGIC CAN EVER CEASE!!!  FOR I AM THE FIFTH HELLION OF THE APOCALYPSE!!!  REMEMBER IT, YOU FOOL!!!  I AM THE HELLION OF DEATH!!!"

                With a final strike, the scythe cut through the shield, and the barrier shattered like brittle glass, and with a squeal, Hazel collapsed, drained and injured, his pelt bleeding and bruised.  Justin was also sent flying back from the explosion, but he shakily managed to get back on his feet.  Yet, as Hazel glanced towards the adolescent, he saw, to his horror, Elil-rah descending upon the cross-bearer from behind in the air, his weapon at ready.

                "JUSTIN!!!" yelled Hazel, but it was too late as the scythe descended.

                SPUCK!

                The sound was harsh, cruel...and final.

                Bluebell stopped trying to claw at the winged steed and gasped.

                Blackberry paused from sending another bolt of lightning to crash down upon the Hellion of War and went tharn.

                Pipkin, who finally regained consciousness in Silver's paws, saw the scene and started to sob.

                Silver clutched Pipkin tightly, fighting the choking wails that were fighting to emerge from his mouth.

                Hawkbit dropped the sword his orbed away from the wolf demon in shock.

                Fiver was whimpering.

                Speedwell fell to his knees and numbly stared at the scene, whispering a pleading prayer to anyone who would listen.

                Buckthorn used to sword he was carrying to prop himself from collapsing from shock and sorrow right there in the grass.

                Campion brought his paws to his eyes and wept bitter, angry tears, his jaw set and teeth gritted in pain.

                Holly bowed his head in sorrow.

                Strawberry pleaded to himself, "It cannot be!  It cannot be!  O Frith, please help us!  Please!"

                Bigwig, for once during the entire mission, looked broken, and his face showed an endless amount of mourning, as if he knew, this time, all was lost...forever.

                Acorn fell on all four of his paws and started to cry, his tears dropping onto the grass as he sobbed, "No...not the cross-bearer...no."

                Dandelion remained tharn, woozy, and for once, could not find a single thing to say.

                Hazel felt his entire world crumble around him as his vision actually lost its ability to sense the colors in the environment, and from his fallen position, he could only stare at the black and white and gray image of the skeleton embedding his scythe, the blade entering into Justin's back and gorging through the boy's chest, stabbing him a fatal blow through the heart.  Justin made a faint gurgle, his eyes wide with shock and surprise, and he remained still as a statue as the blade was still embedded into his body.  With a pitiless movement, the skeleton removed his weapon from the teenager's body, and convulsing, Justin collapsed to the floor.  The cross, sensing his death, began to glow before a final flash, and the crystal shattered, the fragments littering the ground and grass.  As Justin laid there, he was left with a silver necklace chain, devoid of his power, now useless and the one and only thing that could save them would disappear for all eternity under the darkness.

                With a cackle of triumphant merriment, the skeleton and his Four Hellions teleported back into the neck of the creature, once again forming the five-headed beast.

                Elil-rah laughed cruelly, his laughter sending the final message of damnation and a future of unrelenting darkness.

                Meanwhile, back at the warren, Groundsel and Stonecrop came back into the Great Cavern, gasping and sobbing.  Rabscuttle faced them, his whiskers graying with terror and dread.

                "Groundsel…what happened?"

                Stonecrop was crying and tearfully, forlornly, choked, "El-ahrairah…he…O Frith and Inle, he's dead!"

                Rabscuttle went tharn, his eyes glassy and his body getting colder by the instant, his breath artic and shuddering.  The rest of the rabbits in the Great Hall also exhibited similar expressions of grief, and in the background, Hyzenthlay and Mara, Carol, and Gina were all wailing.  Violet, trembling, asked hesitantly and softly, "What happened?"

                Groundsel, despite his blubbering, managed to wheeze out, "We do not know what had happened!  El-ahrairah was resting peacefully until he gave out a scream, and Stonecrop and I looked and saw that he had a bloody hole gouged through his heart!!  We tried to help him, but El-ahrairah gave us a...a sort of sad smile, and his...his body faded!!  It crumbled into ashes and dust and now he's gone!!  O Frith and Inle help us!!  He's dead!  El-ahrairah is dead and gone!!"

                "No, it cannot be!" whispered Snitter, but then Sneezewort then remembered what Elil-rah had just confessed.

                "If one lives, they both live...but if one dies...they both die," he murmured forlornly.

                "O embleer Frith!" sobbed Rabscuttle as he bent his head down and wept, "We lost!!  We lost!!  We did everything we could, we tried every plan we could muster, and we even had the damned cross-bearer help us fight!!  And we still lost!!  DAMN IT ALL, IT CAN'T BE!!!  IT'S NOT FAIR!!!  EL-AHRAIRAH NEVER DESERVED THIS!!!"  He howled this last statement from the depths of his anger and grief, and at a loss, no one could do or say anything but mourn and suffer.

                Lying in a pool of his own blood, Justin felt his entire heart and body cease, his life draining little by little, his vision blurring into the never-ending darkness, the pain in his chest numbing bit by bit.  Justin then knew he was finally and truly going to die.  He did not notice that the moon was gently, indiscreetly, bathing his body in an orb of white light.

                His hand quivering, the teenager managed to grab the remains of the cross necklace lying on the ground, tears coming to his eyes at the reminder of the loss.  After everything, after the journey, the trials, the pain, the sadness, the joys, the brief moments of bonding and happiness...they had lost.  It was over.  Justin managed to create a mixture between a croak and a sob softly, blood running down his chin, "El-ahrairah...I...I'm so...sor-...-ry."

                I just wish it didn't end like this, the adolescent thought with eternal sorrow of nothingness.

                A voice gently echoed in his head, a voice that was so comforting and final, Justin felt his eyes change from tears of despair to tears of relief.

                It won't, Justin.  Nothing ever ends.

                El-ahrairah, the astral form, now fully devoid of any cadaver, shining with the splendor of multiple halos of pure gold and sun, was beside the fallen body of Justin in the beam of moon aura.  The Watership Owsla, the rabbits and allies back at the warren of Fenlo, and Elil-rah, were all shocked at the miracle.

                "WHAT??!!!" roared Elil-rah.

                "My Lord!" cried Hazel.

                "The prophecy!!" breathed Dandelion in awe.

                Back at the warren, everyone was amazed at the wondrous sight.

                Blackavar squealed, "Rabscuttle, LOOK!  It is El-ahrairah!!"

                Rabscuttle could have sworn on that very moment that he was never more overjoyed to see his friend and Prince back again.

                Without any answer to the audience, El-ahrairah's paw gently grasped Justin's cold hand, giving the dying boy support.  The halos now surrounded both the Prince of all Rabbits and the cross-bearer, and the boy was engulfed with warmth and endless light.

                "Am I...going...to die?" the boy asked for the second time of the day.

                El-ahrairah shook his head as he smiled and brought the body of the teenager closer to his body, enveloping him into a gentle hug.  The shattered, twisted metal of what was once the cross necklace that Justin wore for so long began to glow once again, and like magic, the shards and fragments swirled around the two of them as the ball of radiance around the two kindred spirits began to shine brighter and brighter.  It was as painful as staring into the sun.

                Fiver then realized what the force was at once.

                "O great seasons!" he squealed, "It's the power of Frith!!  It's his light, his power!!  Justin and El-ahrairah released it!!!"

                "THIS CANNOT BE!!!  NOOO!!!" Elil-rah roared in outraged fury and growing fear.

                And then...the impossible became reality.

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Next: THE FINAL BATTLE

You guessed right fans!  the moment you've all been waiting for!  The moment of destiny!  The final conflict between Elil-rah and El-ahrairah and Justin!  It's now or never, fans!

Hawkbit: Oh, quit being so melodramatic!

Watch it Hawkbit or I'll have some more Hawkbit-torture at the end of this story!

Hawkbit (meek): I'll be quiet!

*/