Chapter 8
"You found me." Landon managed to get out before he noticed that the horseman's full attention was concentrated on Hope and the artefact she was now holding.
"I just followed the clues you left in that voicemail. You're great at riddles, we should probably add fight training to your course work though." She replied, placing the spearhead on a windowsill to her right. She looked over at the horseman that was approaching and said, "Feel free to take notes."
She took off into a sprint and charged the Dullahan down. She managed to slowly force the monster backwards. The horseman favored strong, brutal blows which were at a distinct disadvantage against Hope's swifter style of combat. Every strike the monster attempted to deliver was avoided by the barest of margins and then returned three, four, or fivefold. The Dullahan threw a hook, which she ducked under, and followed up with a series of supernaturally quick and deceptively powerful jabs. It then attempted a hammer fist, which Hope expertly avoided, by leaning to her right. Her response to that particular attack was to grab onto the rail to her left, and leap into a modified dropkick, launching the horseman into the back wall. Seeing that the area in which the monster had much greater room to maneuver, she quickly made her way towards the monster barely managing to reach it before it got back to it's feet.
"Wait! Stop! Both of you stop!" Landon said trying to figure out how to explain the situation to Hope in a way that would make sense and not make him sound like a crazy person, while simultaneously working his way down the stairs and away from the two supernatural powerhouses. Getting caught in the middle of that fight was not something he wanted to experience. Despite his plea the Dullahan stood up and stalked towards Hope. It appeared that the key had been completely forgotten by the monster, in it's desire to attack Hope, which made no sense at all to him.
"Whatever that was supposed to do, it didn't work." Hope said, before casting an Incendia spell at the monster to no effect. "He won't die. You know sci-fi stuff, how do I kill him?"
The Dullahan wasn't listening to him, seemingly intent on killing Hope no matter what he said. While his goal of freeing his father remained the same, he wasn't going to let a random monster kill Hope. Despite all the secrets and lies he loved her, and there was no way this overrated supernatural super soldier was going to take her from him.
"Headless horsemen are immune to most magics, but they carry their severed heads with them under their capes. That's where the curse's focus is. Kill the head, the body dies." He answered her as quickly as he could.
"Great. One head coming up." She said, but before she could make her way to the Dullahan, it reached back, grabbed the handle of it's bone-whip and with a flick of it's wrist whipped it forward. The whip wrapped around her ankle, with a quick yank the Dullahan pulled her leg out from under her. She managed to catch herself as she fell, reactively casting Ictus towards the oncoming monster. Surprising both her and Landon, that spell connected and managed to launch the horseman into a concrete pillar at the edge of the stairs.
Through some rather incredible luck, that blow tore open the pouch in which the Dullahan's head was secured. The head proceeded to roll towards the stairs, bouncing down them once it's momentum had carried it past the edge of the top most step.
The Dullahan was already back on it feet and stomping towards Hope, until Landon reached forward and picked up the head that had landed in front of him.
"Oh god, why is it moist?" inadvertently made it's way past his mental filters. Looking up he saw the Dullahan rapidly turn in his direction.
"Hey, asshole!" He said making sure that the Dullahan was giving him it's undivided attention. Firmly grasping the back of the head in his right arm, he lifted to shoulder height ensuring it was clearly visible. "Get the hell away from my girlfriend!" He shouted, directing the fire inside to gather in his fist.
Flames erupted from his hand, feeling to him like a soft caress. He felt the magical resistance of the Dullahan, the head just barely able to keep his phoenix fire at bay. Instinctively he knew that these flames could burn anything, consume anything, nothing was beyond their purview. If the head wasn't burning, he simply wasn't using enough fire. He doubled down on the flame, and then doubled down again. Calling more and more heat and fire to his hand until his entire arm glowed the bright orange of molten steel.
He saw the horseman begin to make it's way down the stairs to him, but it was to late. The head had caught, his flames changing color to luminous neon green and immolating in an instant.
The Dullahan instantly dropped dead, falling the rest of the way down the flight of stairs while a prompt appeared in his field of vision.
You have eliminated a DULLAHAN – 350XP awarded
Huh, I guess there aren't any restrictions against killing party members. He thought to himself. That's good to know. It would really suck if I couldn't defend myself or my friends from dad's monsters if they go berserk just because we automatically party up.
Deciding to leave the rest of his contemplating until later, he quickly made his way up the stairs to Hope.
"Hi." He said once he made it to the top.
"Hi." She responded.
Before she could get another word out, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her, leaving her breathless and struggling to gather her thoughts.
Regretfully she broke off the kiss and began speaking, "Um, ok, um… So I had this entire speech that I practiced with your prismatic hologram,"
"My what?" He interrupted.
"But I know that the only thing that you want from me is the truth. "She continued, completely ignoring his question. "And the truth is… I love you. I'm really sorry about all the secrets that I've kept, but I'm… I'm mostly sorry about keeping that one. Cause I love you, Landon Kirby."
"I mean, it wasn't a huge secret, because I love you too Hope Mikaelson. But in the spirit of honesty there is something that I've been keeping secret too, it isn't fair to you, and you deserve to know the truth."
The relief on her face was short-lived as concern quickly took over.
Before she could ask him any questions, a voice sounded from the room's entrance. "Nothing like young love, is there?"
Of all the times for his brother to randomly pop into a room, he had to choose now, before he could explain anything to Hope.
"You'll find, baby brother, one of our family's worst traits is…. we're terribly clumsy." Clarke continued as he nonchalantly picked up the spearhead from the windowsill and tossed it into the pit.
The move caught Hope by surprise and this time she failed to telekinetically keep it from sinking into the pit.
"Really?! Dick move, brother!" Landon yelled out exasperated.
"Aren't you gonna clap or something? That was a total power move." Clarke retorted.
Hope sent out a telekinetic blast towards Clarke, slamming him into the wall behind him and knocking him unconscious.
"What do you mean brother?" Hope asked, confusion evident on her face.
"We have a lot to catch up on." Landon responded, and then he proceeded to tell her everything he had discovered since he discovered his system.
"Wow, that's a lot to take in." Hope said once he had finished telling his tale. "So Malivore's your dad?"
"Weird, huh?" He responded, surprised by how well she seemed to be taking everything. She had been upset that he hadn't told her about his system and the letter from his father at first, but when he explained that he just wanted some time to bask in the sensation of having a family out in the world who actually wanted him, her anger relented. She was being somewhat less understanding about his desire to free Malivore from his prison, however.
"And he can't be killed, which is why Triad turned him into goo?" She stated, more than asked.
"You're a quick study." He responded wanting to move on from the issue of his father's mortality as quickly as possible.
"But nothing's ever immortal. I mean, not really. Nature won't allow it. There's always a loophole." She continued.
He did not like where this conversation was heading. He did not like it at all. The pit was bubbling and boiling which was, hopefully, a sign that his dad was almost free.
He searched for some other topic of conversation that would prove important enough to change the subject.
"So, did you come here by yourself, or is the rest of the super squad on it's way?" He asked.
"They're on their way. The twins, Kaleb, and MG are helping Dr. Saltzman deal with the gorgon, they wanted me to wait for them but that wasn't happening." She answered as she avoided his gaze. She didn't typically do that, and it concerned him.
She deliberately failed to mention Raf and there was no way in hell he would just stay behind if he thought Landon was in danger.
So, he asked, "And Raf?"
"I don't know." She said, finally looking up at him. "He was having issues with his wolf side, so I gave him a ring that would let him shift at will, but the moment he heard you were in trouble, he was just gone."
After a brief pause, she continued, "I honestly thought I'd find him here already by the time I arrived, I have no clue how I managed to beat him here." Her eyes drifted back to the pit as soon as she was done.
"You said a witch, a werewolf, and a vampire created Malivore, right?" She asked, a dangerous glint in her eye.
"I did." He replied succinctly.
"You realize… we can't let him free, right?" She said, her expression hardening.
"No, no I don't realize that." He responded, anger beginning to tinge his words. "He's my dad, and yeah, maybe he's done some bad things, but he's still my dad." Seeing no reaction from her, he decided to press on, "Can you honestly tell me that you wouldn't do the same thing for your dad if you had the chance?"
Her head snapped towards him. Fury was now the only emotion present on her face. He knew it was a low blow but if there was another way to convince to give him a chance to meet his father, he couldn't find it.
"That is not the same!" She nearly shouted.
"It's exactly the same!" He yelled back, stepping forward leaving no distance between them as they glared at each other.
Unexpectedly, Hope grabbed the back of his head and pulled him down toward her for a kiss. The kiss was unlike any other kiss they had shared. It was passionate, but they had had passionate kisses before. What set this kiss apart, was the rage.
They both knew instinctively that the other was not going to compromise on this issue, and those feelings fueled them further. Hope held the back of Landon's head, her fingers running through his hair, their lips firmly pressed against each other. Landon's hands found their way to her waist, and then further down.
Grabbing her by her ass, he lifted her up, her legs wrapping around his waist as he began walking forward. Three quick steps were all it took for them find themselves slamming Hope's back against a concreted pillar. They barely noticed. So consumed with their rage, lust, and love that the rest of the world might as well not exist for them.
Keeping his left hand on her ass to help support her, Landon's right made it's way up to the back of Hope's head. He twirled his wrist, her hair collecting in his palm, then he grabbed and pulled.
Their kiss broke as Hope's head was forced backwards, leaving her neck exposed.
He trailed kisses down her neck until he got to her collarbone. That he gave a playful bite.
Her arms once again wrapped around his head, this time bringing it to her chest in a hug.
"I'm sorry." She whispered remorsefully to him.
The last thing he heard was the sound of his own neck breaking.
