Chapter 45

Malcolm took the glass of water Susan gave him, taking a long sip of it, and set it down, patting her hand gently. She was childlike because she WAS a child in a woman's body. It broke his heart because Susan wouldn't change past a certain age, he believed it was 25. Bray wanted the women to stay young and not age past a certain age to keep them healthy enough to breed.

"A good chunk of them, yes, but he also has loyal followers." It hurt Malcolm not to be referred to as 'Dad' by Mark, but he understood and would not push his son. "I would say 80%."

"Susie, why don't you slice your grandfather up a nice chunk of that apple pie you made earlier today, hmm?" This poor girl did NOT need to hear this after everything she'd been through. "And if you want, we'll take you back to our place to play a board game or two."

"Can I see Abigail first?"

"Sure."

John waited until Susan had bounced out of the room, frowning. "So, his army is made up of mostly… kids, in… adult bodies?" He had to make sure he had heard that right, seeing the look on Taker's face, and knew it was reflected in his own. "Man, that's not right… and they're… they have to uh, mate too, don't they?" At Malcolm's nod, he turned a shade of green he usually associated with Stephanie's pregnancy puking.

"That's enough enlightenment for you, buster. Carry me home." John was good muscle, but way too soft for this kind of talk. Stephanie wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling him lift her, and waved over his shoulder at Taker and Malcolm.

Just then, the door opened, and Abigail walked inside, her black hair wet hanging down her back and over her shoulders.

"Abigail!" Susan rushed over to her and hugged her around the neck, her emerald eyes twinkling. "Uncle Mark got you some food and I helped cook it! I hope it's okay."

This wasn't the first woman child she had dealt with, so Abigail had an inkling of what to do and say. "I'm sure it's perfectly fine, sweetheart." She kissed the top of Susan's head and made her way over to where Mark and Malcolm sat. "Hey Steph, how are you feeling?"

"Huge," Stephanie responded with a smile, waddling over to her after John set her down. "Good to have you back. At least, I hope you're coming back…"

"I think I'm gonna stick with whatever job Dean has in store for me, but if I don't like it, I'll definitely come back." She did not notice Mark tense at the mention of the other man's name and hugged Stephanie. "You shouldn't be on your feet too long."

"Don't worry, she's not." John scooped her up in his arms with ease again, even with Stephanie being 8 months pregnant, and grinned. "Susie, you comin' with us, Lil homie girl?"

"Go on, we'll talk later." Abigail winked at her, receiving another hug, and watched her walk out of the common house with Stephanie and John, her eyes turning to the two men at the table. "Malcolm, I'm glad you've settled in and I'm so sorry I wasn't here to…show you the ropes."

"Quite alright, Sis-I mean Abigail." Malcolm smiled apologetically. "That's still hard for me not to call you that."

"I know, it's okay." She sat down beside Mark in front of her tray of food and began eating.

"Will her mind ever catch up?" Mark asked, having watched Susan take off with John and Stephanie.

He hadn't missed the way the pair coddled her and treated her like a child. Even Abigail did it and it came naturally to her, so he assumed she had plenty of experience. This was a prime example of what he had been talking to her about: Abuse of magic. Not all magic was bad, and intent meant quite a bit. Wyatt was an evil person with evil intent, and his father had… had to help.

"To an extent, yes."

"Lily… was used…"

To breed monster babies and she had been murdered for having girls. What the hell kind of world had Bray Wyatt been trying to create? He got it, why Abigail wanted to destroy him and the DOV at any cost. He was with her, for the most part, he just wanted to make sure that in the process, they didn't become what they were fighting against. He was going to ignore the Dean Ambrose thing for now, and see what happened. Right now, she and Malcolm had given him bigger things to worry about than a punk with a chip on his shoulder.

"Yes. The women, if they have boys, they are taken away one month after birth, due to the serum. Because they don't need their mother and they start training immediately." Malcolm explained, clasping his hands on the table in front of him, and sighed. "Girls are…kept with their mothers, but the mothers are…beaten and raped for not producing the right sex. Wyatt calls it 'atonement to the Dominion'. The serum I came up with cannot generate a specific sex, it's all on the man, not that he understands that. He thinks the women are responsible for choosing the sex of the baby, which isn't true. That's why he sent Abigail here to investigate the Mythril because of its magical properties. He seems to think the Mythril added to the serum will cause the mothers to have more boys than girls. I told him it was a long shot, but he wouldn't listen to me and assured me he knows what he's doing."

"Malcolm, since I've been gone, has he gotten worse?"

"Abigail, he's a monster and he has to be destroyed. You understand that, right?"

"Yes, of course. I want him stopped and the DOV destroyed. And I know the only way to do that is killing him."

"Did you explain to him what needs to be done?"

Abigail swallowed hard, nodding. "I told him what you told me."

"Mark, this is very dark magic we need to tap into in order to break the spell. It calls for a blood sacrifice by two Calaway's. I've dipped my hands into this type of magic, but I'm not completely familiar with it. How did you come to have powers anyway, my boy?" Glen was the one with the powers, not Mark, though Mark always had the potential to become a sorcerer. He chose not to, however.

He hated thinking of that day, of Glen's death, and sighed, pushing away his barely touched plate. Instead, Taker reached for the urn of coffee in the center of the table, knowing the hot plate had kept it warm. He filled himself a mug, figuring he was going to need it, though a dash of whiskey would make it better.

"After you and Lily left, a few days after actually, there was a raid on the town we were hiding in. Glen and I stayed inside, but they set houses on fire, and…" He groaned, feeling Abigail's hand coming to rest on his thigh and glanced down at her, flashing her a tight smile. "We were caught in it. He was pretty… charred." Burnt like an overdone piece of fried chicken, actually. "I was bad, but not like him. He… I don't know how he did it, but he used his magic… it felt like he was… pushing it into me. He saved me."

Malcolm closed his eyes momentarily, trying to reign his emotions in, and cleared his throat gruffly. Glen had always admired Mark and followed his big brother around everywhere from the time he could walk. They were extremely close, so Glen sacrificing himself in order to save Mark did not surprise Malcolm at all.

"Good boy." He whispered, nodding, and felt extremely proud of his deceased son.

It was heartbreaking to watch Malcolm's emotions play across his face because he was doing everything in his power not to cry. Abigail didn't leave Mark's side, stroking his thigh and leaned her head against his arm, hoping eventually he would eat. This wasn't a proper dinner conversation, by any means, but they needed to plot and plan the DOV and Bray's destruction.

"For what it's worth, my son, you've done well and have built quite a town here. I'm proud of you." Malcolm poured himself a cup of coffee, needing the boost of energy.

"Wonderful?" Taker shook his head. "There was already a town here. People were hiding, and the DOV had raided it a couple of times. This was… god, 12 years ago?" He tended to lose track of the time quite easily. "I was roaming, laying low and keeping to myself, passed this place a few times. I found Red, where's my Red?" He looked around, spotting Amy behind the front counter managing the ledger, and nodded at her, not surprised to see her grin and then get a nod in return. "Her, I found her. She was being… attacked." His eyes flashed acid at the thought. "And she wasn't nothing but a teen at the time, just a kid…"

That was when he learned just how powerful Glen's magic- HIS magic- was because he had lost his temper, stumbling upon a woman being raped. It was one thing to hear about it, but to SEE it. That still haunted any decent person's dreams for a lifetime.

"We returned here, and it was smoke and ruins, but people kept coming. I think it's because it was one of the last few towns in the area. We just… built, and then the wall…"

"And as long as he wills it, nobody with ill intent is allowed to get past the barriers he set back then." Amy came over with a fresh urn of coffee, flashing Abigail a friendly smile. "I'm going to bed guys, don't stay up too late."

Up to this point, Abigail never heard the story of how Amy had come to Wonderful. Mark had saved her from the DOV. She had no idea Wonderful had been raided because she was forced to stay at the castle. Bray sent his men out and a lot of them were vicious, merciless, with Luke Harper at the charge.

"We won't, thank you, Amy." Abigail winked at her, watching her walk out, and turned her attention back to Malcolm. "Glen is protecting all of us."

"He's also watching out for us too, Abigail. I believe that, and I also believe he lead you to Mark."

"What do you mean?"

"My dear, Bray could've sent anyone out to Wonderful to investigate the Mythril and the leader. But he chose YOU. I do believe a higher power is responsible for that happening, for Bray to turn to you, of all people, who he claims as his Queen, to send her here and put her in potential danger. Magic works in mysterious ways, Abigail, some of it good and some of it bad. I do believe they used to call it destiny."

"I still don't understand why he came to me either. He said I was the only one he could trust to do this, but yet, he was overprotective of me at the castle." Killing his own men for even talking to her, for example. "And I was never his Queen or the Queen Mother of anything, he only assumed I was and I would go along with his cruelty."

"You do realize he will come for you if we don't act soon." Now Malcolm's face had changed to something darker, his smile gone. "We have to attack him within another month. He's planning on bringing his forces to Wonderful to get you and the Mythril, by any means necessary." He saw her shiver, nodding solemnly. "He may not be able to breach this place, but that doesn't mean he won't find a way in and I think we should bring the fight to him."

"You mean, go back to the castle…" Abigail frowned, not sure how she felt about that, and looked up at Mark, who was contemplating his father. "Whatever you want to do, I support it." She spoke to Mark now, his head turning to stare down at her with those hypnotic green eyes.

"He won't make it through Wonderful's walls, he can't anymore." Taker had made sure of it. "The only way through would be the little springs a few of the more… enterprising," That was a nice way of saying smuggler, and 'Taker's green eyes ghosted over Abigail briefly. "Citizens use to get in and out. That is easily fixed."

"He could lay siege, though."

"Agreed, that is the main reason I don't want war on my doorstep. We're self-sufficient to a point. Our resident scientists have been working on it, but anything long term would drain resources."

"I don't think you'd want dark magic here either… it leaves its mark." And Wonderful may not live up to its name if they did that here.

"What do you think, darlin'?"

Abigail agreed with Mark, not because she wanted to maintain the peace between them, but because she genuinely felt he was right. "We take the fight to him. Malcolm knows more about magic than anyone, so if he says dark magic leaves its mark on the world, I want that mark to be on the castle grounds. On DOV territory. There's no reason to bring war here, especially with Stephanie, Trish, and Amy, along with the other pregnant women and families. People are happy here. And I know of a way to get close enough to Bray to break the spell."

Malcolm didn't know if he liked the sound of this, but decided to hear her out anyway. "What is that, my dear?"

"I'm half the reason Bray would come here because of his obsession over me. I'm his Queen, so you need to use that to your advantage."

"Abigail…"

"Bray won't leave his ranks without a reason, his wall of defense and soldiers. I'm probably the only reason he would step forward away from them. Use me as bait to lure him out and break the spell." It sounded a lot simpler than it actually was, but Abigail knew for the spell to work they had to be in close proximity with Bray. Malcolm had made that abundantly clear. "I trust you both to keep me safe. And I said it from the beginning, if you have to use me as bait to bring Bray and the DOV down, do it."

"And how are we going to use you as bait, darlin'?" The woman had offered this up before. However, saying 'I'm bait' and then applying it were usually two different things. "Wave you from a flagpole or something and hope he comes running?"

"He might, he is fairly obsessed with her."

"Enough to send you away from him." Hell no. "We need him out of his castle, but on DOV turf…"