A/N: Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing! Thank you to TraSan. Oh, yeah, and um, not deathfic.

The Forest

Chapter Six

The sound behind them was deafening, the ground trembling beneath their feet as Galen desperately tried to get them away from where the creature was rising out of the ground. The poison in his body was thrumming in time with the noise issuing from the thing, pain lancing through his body as he dragged Dean into the trees. The hunter was stumbling along beside him, trying to help as much as possible, but Galen was carrying most of his weight. Dean suddenly cried out, reaching for his head—the next moment, Galen felt something burn across his scalp. "Dean!" he said, grabbing the hunter's hand so he couldn't spread the liquid.

"What is that?"

"You really don't want to know," Galen answered, looking up at the creature towering over their heads.

"Is it drooling on us?"

"Pretty much."

"Can this day get better?" Dean groaned, tripping over a root. Galen grabbed his arm, trying to drag him up, but the creature was on them, he felt the cold brush of its breath across the back of his neck and turned to face it. "Rob?" Galen called through the link.

"On my way, Galen, give me a half a sec."

"Don't think I have that long, Brat," Galen managed to reply before something connected with him, tossing him into a solid mass, he dropped to the ground, fighting to remain conscious. He pushed himself up and dragged Dean behind him, trying to block the creature from the injured hunter. "Sooner would be better, Rob."

"Galen?" Dean said, reaching out blindly. "What's going on? What's it doing?"

"Nothing right now, it's almost like it's waiting," he said. A soft rumble filled the forest around them.

"That's not good. Sounds like that are never good."

"Oh shit," Galen said, craning to see around the creature.

"Not good?" Dean asked, a smirk on his face.

"Not really."

"How not good?"

"Remember the little larvae?"

"Yeah?" Dean paled. "Are they here?"

"No." Galen took a step back, running into the hunter.

"No? Then what? Oh, god, there's more of them, aren't there?"

"Yeah." Galen locked his hand around Dean's arm, preparing to run.

"And they're a lot bigger?"

"Yes." Galen took a breath, pulled Dean's arm over his shoulder—and ran. "Rob!" he shouted, through the link and out loud, hoping his brother would get there in time.

XXX

Blackberries thorns tore at Sam's clothing as he and Rob raced through the brambles to reach Dean and Galen. The forest around them was full of chattering nose, and from somewhere behind them he could hear a deep growl.

"Great!" Rob shouted, glancing back. "Looks like that thing we killed has friends."

"Friends?"

"Yeah, several, they're headed this way."

Sam slowed and looked back, he could see the creatures moving along the edge of the bushes. They weren't trying to follow, instead they were pacing back and forth. He could just make out their shaggy backs as they shifted. "Why aren't they following us?" he asked, speeding up again to catch Rob.

"Too smart to run through blackberries?"

"Maybe not," Sam said as something broke through the bushes to his left. A mass of fur and teeth headed straight towards him.

"Duck!" Rob said, swinging his sword as Sam hit the ground and rolled underneath the creature. "On my way, Galen, give me a half a sec," the Keeper said, stepping out of the way of a blow from the long claws of the thing. "We need to get going, Sam."

"Yeah." Sam had his hands around the throat the thing, its teeth inches from his neck.

"Hold still and move your head away as much as you can."

"What?"

"Move, now!"

Sam shifted as quickly as he could, he saw the flash of the Keepers sword as it sliced through the creatures neck, cleaving the head from the body, hot blood sprayed him as the body convulsed and dropped against his chest. He shoved it away with a grunt of disgust. Rob offered him a hand up and hauled him to his feet. A low growl rumbled through the blackberries. Before Sam could say anything, the Keeper dropped as if he'd been hit. "Galen?" Rob whispered, his face white.

"Rob? What is it?" Sam asked, trying to lift him to his feet. The scream that echoed over the forest told Sam everything he needed to know. "Rob?"

"They're in trouble." Rob stood, looking like he was ready to fall over, then took a deep breath, paling a little as another scream sounded, this time closely followed by another voice. Sam felt a jolt of fear as he recognized Dean's voice.

Sam didn't wait for the Keeper to start moving, he ran through the blackberries in the direction of the screams. He broke through the tangle of bushes—Rob right behind him—and stopped for an instant in horror. Rob let out a muffled curse as he got his first look at what they were facing.

The creature was there, its mass rising out of the ground, a horrific stench filled the area, with each growling breath the thing made, the smell increased. Sam swallowed a gag as he stared at it, trying to force down the sense of utter hopelessness curling through his chest. Oh god. That wasn't the worst of it, however, there was a writhing mass of worm-like creatures slithering towards Galen and Dean.

"Dean!" Sam shouted, completely panicked. The thing turned towards them, a small group of the smaller creatures changing their focus to Sam and Rob, moving to block them from Galen and Dean. Rob muttered something under his breath and lifted his sword, cutting the creature closest to them in half.

"Sam?" Dean called, one hand in front of him.

"He's blind," Rob said from beside Sam.

"What?" Sam asked, turning to the Keeper.

"He's blind, and the poison is moving in both of them. Oh shit, I should have known."

"What?" Sam tore his eyes away from his brother and looked at the worm Rob had killed—which was apparently not dead, both halves were wriggling on the ground.

"Sorry."

"Yeah," Sam huffed. "Now what?"

"If we get rid of the big one, I think the little ones will die."

"Shoot them!" Dean said.

"Cutting them in half made two, shooting them might make more." Sam glanced around, trying to figure out how they could kill the creature. The conversation had only taken seconds, still it felt like hours as Sam ran through every option they had.

"Can you move to the edge of them?" Rob said quietly, Sam looked over, the Keeper's eyes were focused on Galen. He pressed his lips together in an angry line, shaking his head, he cast a look at Sam then returned his gaze to Galen. "Damn all, Galen!" Rob suddenly snapped.

"What's going on?" Sam grabbed his arm.

"My brother is a pain in the ass," Rob ground out, chopping down on one half of the creature he had tried to kill.

"I know the feeling," Sam said. "Look at that." He pointed at a tree by Galen and Dean.

"They need a diversion." Sam heard Galen say to Dean.

"My middle name," Dean answered. Sam clenched his jaw, he could hear the pain in his brother's voice. Too much. And the fact that it was laced with fear made Sam's heart pound painfully against his ribs. "Sammy?"

"Ready, Dean."

"One," Rob said, handing his big sword to Sam.

"Two," Galen replied.

"Three!" Dean finished and pulled away from Galen, dropping to the ground and rolling down into a small indentation at the base of a large rock.

Sam started moving towards his brother as Galen moved towards Dean, a mass of the smaller creatures following them. Sam struck out with the sword, letting the weight of the blade do the work for him—rather than using it as a cutting weapon, he brought the flat of the blade down on one of the things heads, squishing it into the ground with a loud splat. He used the sword on the next one, and the next one, smashing a path to Dean and Galen. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rob shimmying up the tree.

As Sam squished the fourth one, the huge creature let out a bellow and shifted so it could bring its tail to bear, swiping at Galen and slamming him into the rock over Dean. Sam growled at his brother as Dean stood and waved his arms over his head, shouting at the creature to "come and get him." Sam sped up his attack, trying to get between his brother and the creature.

"Now!" Rob called from over his head. Sam looked up as the younger Keeper pushed a broken branch off the limb it was caught on. The wood dropped towards the ground like a thrown spear, piercing the worms head and pinning it to the ground. It writhed in pain, its tail whipping through the air like a massive whip. Sam ducked under a huge swipe of the slimy mass as it cut through the air.

"Dean! Look out!" he screamed desperately, knowing it was too late before the words were even out of his mouth. The tail collided with his brother, sending him flying. "DEAN!" He raced after his brother, reaching him as he hit the ground with a sickening thud.

"You 'kay, Sm?" Dean mumbled as Sam knelt beside him.

"Hey, man, yeah, I'm okay," Sam said, lifting Dean onto his feet and pulling his arm over his shoulders.

"Good."

"Galen, can you do this?" Rob asked gently. Sam looked up, Rob was standing in front of Galen, his hand on Galen's shoulder. Blood was pouring from the older Keeper's forehead, his face far paler than Sam remembered. Galen nodded, swaying as he did so. "I'm not sure," Rob said.

"Just tell me what I need to do," Galen answered, his eyes fixed on his brother's face.

Something latched onto Sam's ankle with the force of a bear trap, cutting through skin to the bone. He yelled in pain, nearly releasing his hold on Dean as another one of the small worms tried to pull Dean away from him. Sam twisted around so he could poke at the one holding onto his lower leg, trying to keep the other one from pulling Dean away. It took three heavy blows before the thing let go of him, and the pain radiating up his leg let him know that it had done a lot of damage.

The sound of notes strung together in something that could be a melody suddenly filled the air around him, the song building in intensity. Sam looked up, Galen's eyes were closed as he sang. Rob was standing behind him, a look of awe on his face. He was focused completely on what Galen was doing and the effect it was having on the massive creature skewered to the ground in front of them.

The worm was trying to lift it's head off the ground, it slid up the sharp branch with a slurping sound. Galen's song continued to build. Black slime was gushing from the creature's head, teeth snapping inches from where the Keepers stood. Galen's hand went to his head in a gesture of pain and he dropped to his knees at the same moment Dean groaned, a tremor running through his body.

The remaining larvae closed on Dean at the same time, Sam couldn't fight them off. They pulled Dean from his grasp and fell on his brother. Dean screamed in agony as one of them latched onto him, dark streaks moving out from where the creature held him. Sam tried to fight his way through to Dean, but one of the things bit down on his leg, stopping him before he could reach Dean. He slammed into it with the sword, splitting it in half, but not caring at this point.

Galen's song ended in one long note.

Sam looked up, light was pooling at the feet of the Keeper, then it washed out, blindingly bright. Sam instinctively covered his eyes, ducking his head as the wave of light reached them. A nauseating sound—the sizzle of the creature as the light roasted it alive—blended with the shrieks from the smaller worms. Sam looked up in time to see the huge body of the worm melt beneath the heat of the spell Galen had created, the next instant the larvae blasted apart, splashing black slime over Sam.

Galen dropped lifelessly to the ground.

"Galen! No, come on, Galen!" Rob was beside his brother, one hand on Galen's forehead the other on his chest. "Galen, no."

"Dean, no," Sam's whisper echoed the desperate tone of the younger Keeper. His brother was covered with blood and black liquid, a dark wound marring his neck. Sam dropped to his knees beside Dean, reaching a shaking hand to check his brother's pulse. There was nothing there, not even the tiniest hint of life. Sam hung his head, tears filling his eyes and spilling over. "Dean, no."

To Be Continued