Warning: Reader discretion is advised.

A/N: just to let everyone know, this chapter gets a little gorey. it isnt anything that wouldnt be on the show (so i have not changed the rating) but it is still a little gruesom.

i want to again thank everyone for the reviews, i am glad you all still like it. this chapter was originally part of the last, but it would have been too long. as a result this chapter is kind of short. sorry about that.

thank the quick update to Ernesto! the weather here stinks, and i work for a golf course so i have today off. whoo hoo.

D: sadly, i dont own the Winchesters.

SHADOW STALKER

Chapter 15

Sam and John walked quickly through the forest, neither man speaking as they made their way to the fourth and final river. The shadows remained weak and faint, spurring on hope in both men, igniting a small sense of relief. If the Asura had gotten Dean then the shadows would have been stronger, much stronger. But still, the idea of their injured family member alone in the dark forest rested heavily on both their hearts.

They had never, really, showed him just how needed he truly was, how much they appreciated him. Dean had always been the one lost in the shuffle, taken for granted. He had always been there, strong and reliable, never absent when his family was in need. He had sacrificed everything he could have been for everyone else, and he did it freely, without complaint. They couldn't let him simply vanish into the forest, fade away like he had never been. He was too important, too needed, too loved to simply be forgotten, and when they found him again they would make sure he knew just that.

They both stopped in their tracks as the distant echo of a shotgun blast filled the heavy air around them, both men tensing. Dean. Joshua. Without a word the two began to run through the forest, their long legs tearing up the remain two miles, their hearts beating fast, both fearing when they would find when they arrived.

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The shadow turned at the sound of the blast, its gray eyes narrowing, sharp senses following the sound. It still could not sense the boy, his soul somehow hidden away, cloaked in the forest. But it knew that he had not been the victim of the gun shot. Its face twisted in a sick smile as it felt Joshua fall to the ground, his mind stunned by the action of the shooter. He had clearly underestimated the Winchester brothers as well.

It turned silently to where it had felt the older hunter fall, the winds around it beginning to breeze again, grow again with its hatred. The hunter was trying to take his prize, trying to steal Dean from him. Its shadow body misted away into the fog, a haunting, echoing laughter following in its wake. It would not lose, not after following them for so long. It would have its prize, take the boy, and nothing would stand in its way.

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Dean struggled forward, losing his balance and falling hard into a small clearing by the river. His face was screwed up in pain as his injured knee made contact with the ground, his breath hitching, his body shaking with the pain. He let a small groan escape as he laid there, fighting back the nausea that was trying to claim him.

"Thank god. Never thought I make it. In your face broken knee." Dean chided as he laid on his back in the damp grass, his breathing slow and shallow. The trek to the river had taken a lot out of him, his precious energy draining even further. But even that couldn't keep the young hunter down. He laid there for a few more minutes, willing strength back into his failing body, slowly pulling himself up on his elbows.

He was only about fifteen meters from the river, the murky water running swiftly between the high banks, the fog hanging thick around him, breezing over the land. He steadied himself and began to drag his cold body to where his walking stick had landed, his knee protesting every movement, his tired frame having little strength to stand. He grabbed the stick and began to push himself to his feet, his mind fighting fatigue, pushing away the darkness that was threatening to claim him.

"It's now or never." He breathed as he moved towards the river, his mind focused on the dark water.

"I don't think so." Dean looked behind him, Joshua emerging from the tree line, his shirt ripped and bloodied, eyes wild, a large hunting knife gleaming in his hand. Dean's green eyes widened in horror as the older man began walking towards him, his long strides carrying him quickly across the clearing.

"Shit." Dean wheezed as he began to pull himself forward as fast as his tired body would allow, his left hand gripping a rosary, shogun all but forgotten behind him. "Get the hell away from me." Dean shouted as he swung the walking stick towards the older man, hitting him in the knee, as he tried to grab him around the waist. Dean stumbled but stayed upright as Joshua fell to the ground, his leg throbbing.

"You little bastard." He yelled as he moved forward, grabbing Dean by the right ankle and pulling him to the ground. The young hunter crying out in pain as he fought frantically in the man's arms.

"Get off me." Dean shouted again as he continued to fight, a well placed kick making Joshua double over in pain, the knife still held tightly in his hand.

"Stop it."

"Like hell." Dean rolled over, sending a fist into Joshua's jaw, adrenaline numbing his body as he fought.

He grabbed again for the walking stick, swinging it at the older man's head but Joshua was too quick. He caught the stick and ripped it painfully from Dean's hands, throwing it to the side before grabbing his wrists, pinning his arms to the ground, and pressing his knee hard into the younger man's chest. Dean gasped in pain as he struggled beneath the weight of the larger man, his attacker's eyes shinning with an unrestrained rage, a twisted madness.

Dean forced his leg up, still gasping for air, and kicked Joshua hard in the back of the head, sending the man careening to the ground. Dean rolled away and immediately began to pull himself along the ground, desperately needing to make it to the river, trying to chant the Latin verses as he went, the man behind him staggering to stand.

Suddenly the fog around them began to darken as the winds picked up speed, the forest groaning as the shadows grew. Dean pushed his face into the ground as Joshua momentarily froze. "Oh god, no. Please." He whispered as his energy failed.

"DEAN!" The voices in the distance were like music to his ears. He looked up into the darkening forest, the shadows falling fast, as he heard his name shouted again and again by both his father and brother.

Dean's relief was short lived however, when he heard the footsteps coming towards him once again, Joshua grabbing him firmly by the waist, pulling him back. "DAD!" He shouted, struggling frantically against the ever tightening arms around him. "DAD!" He called again, as he fought in vain, Joshua holding him tightly from behind, pulling him up to his feet.

John and Sam tore through the woods at the sound of Dean's pain filled voice, both men pushing their long legs, willing themselves on. There was no time to waste, they had to get to him, had to find him. They ran on in the ever growing darkness, knowing that the Asura was upon them, upon Dean, the final river yet to be blessed. They were so close, inches away from killing the thing forever, but they still felt outnumbered, still knew they were lost in the forest, at the hands of the shadow. The two men erupted into the clearing, weapons raised and at the ready, the scene before them stopping them in their tracks.

The shadow was standing before them, between them and Dean, its back to the hunters. Its steely eyes were staring intently at Joshua, all its focus turned toward the traitor. Its face was twisted with rage, the air around them dripping with anger, swelling with hatred. There, standing before the monstrosity was Joshua, his back to the river, Dean held tightly in his arms, the hunting knife pressed firmly to his throat.

"Don't move." Joshua warned when he saw the two Winchesters emerge into the clearing, pulling Dean closer as he spoke, pushing the knife deeper into his skin, Dean's eyes wide in horror. "Drop the weapons." The two dropped them without hesitation both sets of eyes resting intently on Dean.

"Give me the boy." The shadow ordered, cold and even, it too staying back.

"What about our deal?"

"You are in no position to bargain."

"Oh no?" He pulled Dean closer still as he spoke. "This blade is blessed, if he dies by it his soul will be free. You won't be able to touch him."

"Don't you dare threaten me!"

"I get protection. My people get left alone, or you don't get him."

"What the hell are you doing?" John spoke, his voice cold and forceful, cutting through the air like razors, terrifying against the silence. Sam listened intently to his father and Joshua, his eyes never leaving his brother, his mind racing. He needed to get to Dean somehow, he couldn't lose him.

"I'm surviving, John."

"You have no right bringing my boys into this."

"I have no right! You, your boys, your the cause of this. You couldn't just fight the small stuff, you couldn't follow our advice, stay under the radar, let evil live where it had to. No, you went after that damn Fire Demon, you exposed us all. Jim, Caleb, they are dead because of you, because of your arrogance. Our families have suffered, our friends have suffered because of the fight you started. I'm not the only on to turn on you, I'm not the only one to give you up."

"They are my children."

"And this is my life, the lives of other hunters. They'll leave me alone if I give you up, let me go on my way for your kids. It's one life, John, one life for so many others."

"It's my son's life."

"I have an obligation to protect others like us, knowing you is a death sentence. You are destroying our entire community for a stupid vendetta. This is a sacrifice I am willing to make."

"Give me the boy, NOW." The shadow's icy voice echoed through the forest, the ground trembling with the sound, its steel gray eyes turning to blood red.

"You'll die without him. Now give me what I want."

"I will not be threatened by something as worthless as you!"

"Then you'll die." And with that Joshua pressed the blade harder into Dean's throat, the crimson blood flowing down his neck.

"NO!" Sam shouted as he ran forward, the wind around him blowing to a gale.

The air around them was suddenly filled with an earsplitting wail, a horrible roar, so loud and shrill that it forced both Sam and John to their knees, both me covering their ears against the unearthly noise. The shadow swelled as the winds grew, its unnatural screech filling the air as its eyes began to drip, its shadow body bursting into tendrils of air. In an instant it shot forward, in casing both Joshua and Dean, blocking the men from the light of day.

Sam's head shot up when the wailing was replaced by screams of pain like he had never heard before. Screams coming from his brother. The shadow was circling the men, ripping them apart, both hunters screaming in agony as the Asura dove into them, swirled around them. Sam looked to his brother, meeting eyes with the man as the shadow continued its assault. Dean's eyes were shining and wide, the horror and pain evident in his green gaze. He was pleading with his younger brother, whispering to him, saying good-bye, and Sam would have none of it.

Before their father could react Sam ran forward, his mind on autopilot, his own safety forgotten. His only goal, his only purpose was to get to Dean, to stop the pain, to free him from the shadow. As Sam reached for his brother he felt the shadow bore into him like sheets of ice, its very being freezing the men in rivers of icy fire. And the pain, the agony was unlike anything he had felt before, driving itself so deep into his soul he knew he would never forget the feeling. He used all of his momentum to knock Dean from Joshua's arms, covering his brother as the two rolled to a stop in the muddy grass, mere feet from the river.

Joshua continued to scream in the shadow's arms, his body convulsing grotesquely, skin melting away, falling from his bones like hot wax. "John, help me." The older hunter screamed, his voice vacant and hollow, his eyes sinking down into his graying skin. Sam turned his back to the scene, holding his brother tightly in his arms, the older boy speaking weakly as he hid his face in Sam's jacket.

And before them John watched on, frozen to the spot in terror and rage. He watched as Joshua melted away, watched as his face twisted in unmasked agony, as his voice died away into the wind. He watched as he slowly died, feeling ever piece of flesh that fell from his body, every bone breaking. And still John watched, loathing the man for bringing this down upon his children, giving them up to darkness.

"Dad." Sam spoke softly, still holding Dean, looking again at Joshua. He wanted his father to do something, to stop it. But he knew, he saw the look in his father's eyes, the raw anger, and he turned back to his brother.

The shadow then darted up, leaving Joshua where he lay, his bones discarded on the ground, empty eye sockets staring towards the boys, his broken jaw set in a silent scream, as the Asura turned its attention to the brothers. It was then that Dean looked up, his voice strong, eyes staring directly at the shadow.

"... aspersione hujus aquæ effugiat: ut salubritas, per invocationem sancti tui nominis expetita, ab omnibus sit impugnationibus defensa. Per Dominum, amen." Dean finished the blessing and threw the rosary over his head, the beads glistening in the weak light as it fell to the river.

The shadow let forth its deafening screech as it shot towards the bothers, blood red eyes wide with hatred. Sam pulled Dean close and turned his back to the demon, shielding his brother as the thing attacked. Just as he felt the rush of cold air hitting his bones, the ice stabbing him, the small rosary landed with a tiny splash in the river behind them.

Instantly the forest exploded with a roaring wind, the shadow shrieking once more as it vanished into the torrents of air. The wind blasted the three Winchester's, blew through them like a tornado, rushing over them, around them, pushing them to the ground. And then as quickly as it started the winds died away, as the sun shone brightly in the clear sky, the world around them falling suddenly silent.

TBC