(Disclaimer: Don't own anything Supernatural related; the following story and the characters of Riley and Dee are all mine)
Holier Than Thou.
Chapter Fifteen.
The time was drawing near. The moon, sun and earth would align and the once ivory orb would turn blood-red. Blood would drip from the skies and cover the earth. It would run in rivers; cleaving its way through valleys and tearing over the terrain. A raging torrent of destruction that would flood the earth and drown all it touched.
There was an electricity in the air; the promise of impending doom sweeping over the landscape and the animals sensed it and took flight. A flood of a different kind. Predator and prey, running alongside each other; their need for escape overriding all other primal instincts. What they felt on the wind; sensed in the night was a darkness blacker, more fearsome than they'd ever known. They would not bear witness to the evil that was coming. They knew death when they smelled it.
The night-sky was filled with winged creatures; their shadowy forms a blur against the iridescent pearl that lit the landscape. Their rapidly beating wings the only sound as they made good their escape. There were no calls to mark their dread-filled departure; they would not alert the evil to their presence. They could feel the wrath that was building and their silent flight and those of the creatures beneath them was an eerie portent of what was to come.
And come it would.
The lines that had been linked eons ago, both committing to the battle by the spilling of first blood. It was binding. And it would be a fight to the death; as they had been over millennia past. The solemn vows of vengeance sworn before time had meaning would come to the fore and fight the final fight. There were no heirs to carry the curse forward. The line ended here. The battle for the talisman and its power would begin tonight. There would be only one victor. And to the victor, go the spoils.
The silence that shrouded the desert was broken by the howl of one that was soon joined by the howls of many. A malignant keening that washed over the desolate landscape; scraping over the arid dunes and whipping up the sands in a swirling frenzy. The wildlife that had not found sanctuary fell lifelessly to the lonely wasteland; the dull thuds of birds and bats sounded like artillery fire as they fell from the skies in their hundreds.
The blushing moon watching on impassively as the deadly shrieks careened over the desert sands.
She paced her lair; her angry steps reverberating through the earth, shaking the ground around her. Her alabaster skin shone with a light all its own; her fiery locks flaming behind her and her emerald eyes pulsed dangerously as she harnessed the wrath that screamed through her. She would unleash it when the time came. She threw back her head and laughed; the malevolent chuckle bouncing off the blood-stained walls as the lust for dominion engulfed her. She would shower her enemies with pain and suffering! They would see her power! Be awed by it! They would fall to their knees and beg for mercy! A mercy she would NOT give them. It was a word for which she no longer knew the meaning and she had no need for it. No, she had plans for all of them.
She would take the men as sires; drain them again and again. She had felt the strength within both, and she would not let it go to waste. They would spawn indomitable beasts. Beasts who would feed from the corpses of their fathers; ensuring untold savagery.
She had already been promised the woman; an irrevocable pact that had been signed in blood. But the other one…the one that had effected her disfigurement and was standing between her and the talisman...she, she would keep alive. She would be forced to watch the death of the men; bear witness to the corruption of the woman before being used by her scion to spawn hellions of her own. She would never let the madness claim the woman; it would be punishment for what her ancestors had done to her and her children.
She looked around her lair. Her spawn were strong; their muscles quivering in anticipation of the bloodshed to come. She called them to her and they scrambled forward; some on all fours others on two. Their misshapen bodies, beautiful to her. She stroked their distorted skulls; ran her hands lovingly over their twisted spines; their coarse hair filing through her splayed fingers and a smile of rapture fell across her lips. Her time was drawing near and she would populate the earth with her kind and bring men…all men to their knees.
She raised her eyes as she felt the presence of another and her smile was drawn into a sneer; her spawn tensing, growling and snapping at the intruder.
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The abandoned house was thick with tension; it came off the four hunters in waves, building as it crashed against each other and filling the house with an energy that seemed to pulse with its own life. They stared at each other; no one willing to break the strained silence. Each knowing the first words spoken could be the spark that ignited the powder keg of the room.
The four sets of eyes moved from one to the other; their minds working overtime as they realised that all they believed had been lies. Their plans had changed. They had two enemies that were no longer separate entities but were working in conjunction to bring them down. And that each of them had played a part in bringing it to them. Unwittingly and not.
But they had been here before; relying on each other to beat an evil that wanted them. They knew how the others worked; knew their strengths and weakness and although their trust had been put to the test, they understood that without each other…they didn't stand a chance. The time for blame was over. They had a common enemy. And while the demons believed they had forced them into a state of disarray; deceiving them into taking their anger and confusion out on each other. They had done the opposite.
The demons had backed them into a corner and effectively turned the four hunters towards each other. They were smarter, more aware and far more dangerous than the hellion realised. And like any cornered animal, they were going to strike out at their attackers with a vengeance. The demons were about to be hit by a cohesive team of mercenaries that had one plan and one plan only. Total and utter annihilation of their enemy.
"Alright, this shit stops here" said Dean "They want us to be at each other's throats and we're not gonna give 'em what they want" he turned to Riley "Tell us what you know"
Riley nodded "You're right. They are working together but they have their own agenda's. They both want the talisman. For themselves"
"Double-cross" said Dean "What a surprise. That bitch can't touch the talisman and I'm guessing she was hoping you'd pass it over. But if you didn't, she had a back-up plan"
"Yellow-eyed asshole" said Sam.
Dean nodded "One hundred dollars to the man in the back row. But there is no way that prick is giving the talisman to that bitch" he said "I don't believe anything that asshole says but he was telling the truth when he said he wants her taken care of"
"And he's using us to do it" said Dee.
Sam shook his head slowly "No…not exactly" he said as his mind ticked over. He looked at them "You think he wants us to survive this? He doesn't. He wants us to kill her and her spawn to kill us. He'll take the talisman …" he turned to Riley "What exactly does the talisman do? Apart from killing Li…aaahh…her"
Riley went to her bag and grabbed a pair of jeans "While I was out…" she turned and raised an eyebrow "Dean, are you checking out my arse?" he grinned and nodded "Just making sure" she ignored Sam and Dee's rolled eyes as she slipped her jeans on "Okay, had me a chat with the guy that started all this. Some relation from way back and I mean way back. He showed me a heap of stuff but we don't have time for all of it now" she stepped into her boots and picked up the dagger "Dean was right; the talisman and the dagger work together…"
"We saw her hand…" started Sam.
Riley nodded "Dean stabbed her when she had her hand on the talisman"
"Dean stabbed you" said Dee.
Riley shook her head "He didn't. The talisman wasn't truly mine at the time" she sighed "Look, it's difficult to explain. It was Jack's; he had the knowledge, all of it; that's why she couldn't touch it, couldn't kill him. I didn't. So she literally had it in her hands and the only way to stop her getting it was to draw blood; to mark it as mine" she looked at Dean "Sorry, Dean. I stepped into the blade. It was the only way"
He nodded and grinned at her "You owe me" and he grinned wider when she nodded.
"Well Miss Stabby" interrupted Dee "Why didn't it kill her?"
"Miss Stabby?" laughed Riley "Nice. And it didn't kill her because it was Dean's sword and not the dagger. It poisoned her, which is why she cut her own hand off. But it wouldn't have killed her"
"So why the hell'd she do it?" asked Sam "Not that I'm complaining"
"Because it would have eaten away at her, at her flesh. And no amount of make-up was gonna cover that up. And seriously, a succubus with rotting flesh ain't all that attractive. She'd have been on unemployment like that" explained Riley as she snapped her fingers.
"Well a one-handed succubus really wouldn't do it for me either" said Dean; he looked at his brother "Not sure about Sammy though" he said with a grin.
"Will you stop it with the banging jokes" said Sam angrily "The bitch is coming…" he glared at them "STOP IT!" he yelled as Dean, Riley and Dee cracked up; the tension of moments ago, now gone.
"Okay, okay" said Riley, stifling her laughter "So the talisman is mine now and with the dagger we can bring the bitch down"
"That yellow-eyed prick?" asked Sam.
"If he gets his hands on it, which he won't, he can enslave her. He wants her spawn. He can control them with it"
"He wants an army" said Dean "One like never before"
Riley nodded "She and her spawn can't touch the talisman but he can. He won't let us kill her but he wants to use her to kill us…well you three" she lifted the talisman "Protected"
"Thanks for that" deadpanned Sam.
Dean shook his head "This is ass-backwards"
"No it's not. It just has so many twists and turns it's confusing" said Dee. She lit a smoke and sat on the edge of an old table "Okay. From now on the yellow-eyed arsehole is known as 'Derek', the bitch is ….'Gladys'…"
"No, 'Clarice'" said Dean with a grin as he made the 'Hanibal Lecter' sucking noises.
Dee laughed softly as she shook her head "Okay, 'Clarice' it is. So, 'Clarice' wants the talisman so she and her spawn of hybrids can take out Hell and pretty much most of mankind. She wants to rule everything. 'Derek' wants the talisman to enslave 'Clarice' and make the spawn-army his. For what purpose? Hell on earth"
"And Hell in Hell. That prick has ambition" said Sam.
"She can't get the talisman unless it's passed to her and I'm not doing that so in comes 'Derek' and it's deal time. He'll get the talisman and pass it to her but what does he want?" said Riley "Us. But being the double-crossing demon he is…he won't hand it over. And don't think for a minute that 'Clarice' is gonna let him get us either" she looked at Dean and Sam "She wants you. And that is exactly how it sounds. And she won't give me up without a fight. I'm sure she has something just as lovely planned for me. Dee, same for you"
"How freakin' powerful is this talisman?" asked Sam.
"More powerful than you realise" said Riley "Which is why it's kept a secret"
"Okay, we know that and we also know we've got demons double-crossing each other all over the place" said Dean with a grin "Ammo"
"That's not the only ammo we've got" said Riley. She passed the dagger to Dee "Dean, put your sword near the talisman" he moved it towards Riley's neck and the talisman and his sword started to glow.
"Fuck me…" he grinned "Awesome"
"You have no idea how old and powerful that sword is. Normally, a sword would have no effect on her but that one" she pointed to it "It's been around as long as the talisman and dagger have"
Dean stared at the sword "This is the Sword of Damascus"
Riley nodded "The original. And you drew her blood and mine with it while we held the talisman" she grinned "We've got ourselves a secret weapon. 'Clarice' will know about the dagger and I'm betting she kept that piece of information to herself. But she won't know about the sword"
"We still have another problem" said Sam "'Derek' can throw us around like baseballs remember? One flick of the wrist and we can't move"
Riley smiled "Normally, yeah…and we're gonna let him think he can…"
"Normally?" said Dee as she shook her head "Dundee, did you have a stroke while you were out?"
Riley grinned "Not that I'm aware of" she paused "Although it would explain a lot….shut up, Sam" and he closed his mouth as she went to Jack's belongings. She took out the box and removed an old leather book "Didn't know what this was at the time but after my …'lesson', I guess you could call it" she took the book over to them "Seems my ancestors were pretty meticulous when it came to keeping records and such" she opened the book and flicked to the page she'd been shown "Who's the best at Latin? I'm good but this has to be said perfectly. No mistakes with inflections, nothing"
"Sammy" said Dean.
Riley nodded, passed the book to Sam and pointed to the passage. He read it; a smile rising to his lips as he raised his eyes to Riley's "Lets mind-fuck those assholes"
Riley grinned "Now you're talking"
"What is it?" asked Dean.
"A protection. It's old. Seriously old. It'll stop 'Derek's' mojo working on us" said Sam shaking his head as he flicked through the book "This is like a Holy Grail of incantations…bindings…devils traps…curses…"
"Stop drooling on it, dude and do your stuff" said Dean with a grin "You can hump it later. We got plans to make"
"And C4 to lay" said Dee. "We take out as many of her spawn as we can. We don't know how many are coming but the bitch as been busy" she looked at Sam "I hate to ask, but did…"
"No" said Sam.
"Good stuff. Staying ability is always a plus" said Dee
"You're freakin' hilarious" said Sam.
Dee ducked and laughed as he went to hit her with the book "And don't think 'Derek' isn't bringing reinforcements either"
Riley smiled "Not to worry. Got that covered"
"Do you now?" asked Dee as she lit another cigarette; staring at her friend through the smoke.
Riley nodded "Surprise"
"I don't like surprises" said Dee.
"Me either" said Riley "Trades and such don't sit well with me, Dee. But like I said, after this, I'll be kicking your arse"
"Alright, you two can fight in bikini's and jello when we're done. Let's get organised" said Dean "That flashy-light thing earlier was an invite. The bitch is on her way" he looked at them "We make our stand here"
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They worked in pairs; lying the C4 around the town and setting up trip wires and assorted booby-traps for the spawn and the demons that were on their way. Sam and Dee worked on one side of the town; Dean insisting on working with Riley on the other; he knew she was hiding something and it was more than the surprise she said she had coming. They worked quickly as they went over the plans with each other; checking and double-checking as they covered every possible scenario. They couldn't miss anything. A mistake was a death sentence...or worse.
Riley was setting up some C4 near an abandoned store "I'll make this one a little obvious. Set up ones either side of it" she told Dean.
He knelt next to her and set up the explosive expertly "So, you left out one vital piece of information"
"Did I?"
Dean nodded "There's another way 'Clarice' can get the talisman" she said nothing "Come on, Riley. She can kill you. She killed the other protectors so she can kill you" he grabbed her arm as she went to stand "Tell me"
"It doesn't matter because…"
Dean shook his head "No. We need to cover every contingency. What can she kill you with?"
Riley sighed "The dagger"
"She can't touch the dagger" said Dean with exasperation.
Riley stood "Never said she'd be the one holding it" and she walked to the next spot; Dean swearing as he caught up with her.
He grabbed her arm and turned her to him "You" she nodded "How?" she said nothing "How Riley?"
"Look, Dean…she won't touch me but her spawn will. It'll kill them but not before they hurt me. Badly. If I'm weak…" she shrugged "I'm susceptible to her. So instead of passing it to her, the protectors kill themselves with the dagger. Wearing the talisman and killing yourself with the dagger means the only one that can take the talisman is the next in line. She and her spawn can't touch it. Neither can anyone else. It's another protection that's in place"
"What a load of shit" said Dean angrily.
Riley shrugged "It's the way it is" she looked at him "Dean…if that bitch beats me…"
"She won't" he said with conviction.
"Promise me you'll take the talisman. I know it's a lot to ask but you're the only one I can pass it on to. You've drawn her blood, it'll go to you. Take the book and read it…"
Dean shook his head "Riley, we'll beat the bitch…"
"Promise me. If I can't pass it along, it goes back to her. Those are the rules" Dean stared at her "Please"
He sighed "I promise, okay. But we're taking her down. That's just the way it is and if you even think about doing that 'sacrifice-for-the-sake-of-the-talisman' bullshit, I will kick your ass"
She nodded "Just covering my bases"
They went to the next spot, neither of them saying anything as they worked. They could feel the change in the air and they looked up as the moon took on a pinkish hue. "Bring it, bitch" said Dean as he laid the last of the explosive.
They watched as the sky was filled with the silent flight of thousands of birds and bats "Looks like everyone's getting out of 'Dodge'" said Riley.
"Not everyone" said Dean with a grin "Now move your ass before they shit on us"
They headed back to the house; picking up their pace as they heard the distant keening searing over the desert towards them.
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The demons stared at each other; the hatred between the two like a physical being as they fought the natural instinct to kill the other. The seconds turned to minutes as they dared the other to make the first move; to break the tenuous alliance that had been held together by false promises for almost nine years.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend" spat the yellow-eyed demon.
Lilith nodded slowly as she appraised the demon in front of her. She had to keep playing the game "Our time draws near. They have issued the challenge"
He looked at her severed arm; hiding his smile "This is unexpected" and he saw the fury rise in her eyes.
"You failed to tell me one carried the sword of a righteous line!" she hissed; her spawn tensing as they crept towards the demon; guttural growls caught in the back of their throats.
"You were to stay away from them until the time came!" he angered back "That was the plan!"
"I was summoned!" she stepped towards him "My name was spoken in the presence of the talisman! The talisman you said you would find and bring to me!"
"And I have! I bought them together like I said I would. The talisman was linked to one of them" he grinned "Now we know which one" he stared hard at her "The men belong to me"
Lilith nodded "Once the talisman is in my hands; they are yours" she lied "The women are mine"
The demon nodded; his yellow-eyes aglow as he realised he was closer than ever to having an army that would rival any that Hell could muster. He would wreak havoc on earth and build his legions. Legions that no-one could defeat. No-one.
He looked out of her lair and smiled as the moon dripped with blood "It's time" and he was gone.
Lilith shrieked as she flew from the lair; her spawn racing after her as she flew across the desert and towards her enemy. A malignant smile on her lips as she felt a shiver of excitement run through her.
A cleansing was coming and it would bring about an evilness that had waited in the shadows for too long. Waiting for a vengeance that had been pledged since time immemorial.
To be continued…