A/N – Hey all, this would have been posted over a week ago but was stuck on my dead computer thanks to Hurricane Sandy. This was by far the most difficult chapter to write, and it took me forever to get it to feel right. The Muse, once my best friend, had to be cajoled back until I could hit her over the head and lock her in my basement. (that's a metaphor, don't call the police). It occurred to me that this upcoming battle seemed to weigh strongly in favor of the wolves; one fallen God and a few mercs versus an army of werewolves and a trio of Avatars? No contest. This chapter addresses that, but doesn't feature any of our favorite characters. I apologize, but it was necessary to the flow of the story. The gang will be back next chapter, which will be up very soon, though I am still reeling from the news about Jackson's character in Season 3. I am devastated, and I have no idea how to process this. Ah well. I made every effort to blend the mythology of this story into that established by J.D., and I think it neatly explains Kanima-dom. Please read…and don't forget that Muses require reviews for sustenance, and mine is already starving in my damp musty basement.
Creighton Gallows walked through the rusted gates of the Beacon Hills cemetery to regard the rows of dead laid out before him. The wolves were poised for victory; they were recruiting amongst their own families, the attacks against the Avatars had failed, and he had only an unreliable mercenary outfit to call his army. Even so, Gallows could have claimed victory easily had he even a fraction of his own former strength.
The bulk of his magic had been gone for centuries, but the bindings he created at the height of his power were still his to control. In ages past, he was strong enough to bind two of the children of the accursed trickster god; only Fenrir was too powerful and had required help. The rope that bound the Wolf was forged in another world by dwarven smiths that were powerful, skilled…and capricious. They were masters of the craft; their inventions were said to trump even the power of the gods…but all too often their gifts were perilous, as was the case with the golden cord. After the Wolf was bound, the smiths appeared to Gallows…they told him the cord was meant to bind a traitor for eternity, but the Wolf was guilty of no betrayal…and so one day he would be free.
Gallows cursed at the memory…he could not find the Wolf's prison any longer (or this war might have ended before it even began) since the ability to step across dimensions the way a mortal uses rocks to cross rivers had long since deserted him.
But Gallows had built other cages (and far more accessible ones) in the dim and misty past… and now he intended to rattle them.
Gallows stopped at a plain tombstone. Unlike almost all of the others, this one showed no evidence of visiting mourners. Not a single flower had ever graced this grave since its occupant was interred so many years ago. Gallows read the name and lost himself in memory…
Kate Argent was the embodiment of the Hunter breed: dedicated, focused and above all ruthless. It was under Gallows' personal orders that the Hale home had been torched so many years ago…his last attempt to prevent the prophecies from coming true. Fool that he was, he failed to remember that often when you tried to prevent the worst from happening, you became the thing that caused it. He had no idea that Kate would use deceit and betrayal as her weapons when she wiped out the Hale Pack. When the sixteen year old Derek told his father about the beautiful woman that had initiated him into the mysteries of sex without Derek's wolf recognizing her as his true mate, he must have known that it was Derek who would become the Harbinger 'forged by blackest betrayal'. What betrayal could be worse than that of a young boy's heart, an innocent love freely given for the first time?
The Triskelion Sigil would have awakened for Derek the moment the fire was set and the house ringed with Mountain Ash. Kate also had armed Hunters poised outside, ready to cut down any who emerged from the inferno. Erick Hale, when faced with the decision to release his doomed family from their chains in a futile attempt at escape or to fulfill the prophecy that would allow him complete and final revenge, made his decision… and inked the Sigil into his son's body before the fire completely consumed the house.
Gallows would never know this, but the human members of the family were all bitten by Erick before they died to insure their place in the Great Pack. They too must be given their chance at revenge. All he knew was that Laura Hale escaped with her brother when the deed was done; Erick Hale (ever the martyr) sacrificed himself to pass on the Alpha rank to his daughter, as his own ancestor Eowin had done for his son, knowing that the power of the prophecy and Fenrir would protect them both…though Laura would enjoy that protection only for a short time. Along with the siblings went the package bound for the unknown human agent...now revealed to be Adrian Harris. Gallows chuckled; the chemistry teacher was absolutely the last person Gallows would have suspected, considering the role that he had played in the destruction of the Hales.
Gallows had pieced the mystery together over the years, and chided himself for his oversight. Kate was not at fault; Gallows had not seen fit to tell her about the prophecies and warn her to use a more open approach. When she returned to the Council triumphant and informed Gallows of the success of her secret mission, he cautioned her to share her victory with no one but him. The Council was not yet his…though it soon would be. Kate was his protégée, and the only human woman that had captured his interest in thousands of years. They became lovers, the only people that awakened sparks of feeling in each of their cold and dead hearts. Gallows had no idea what had turned Kate into the warrior she was…his Valkyrie, his Chooser of the Slain…but he was grateful for it. Her death six years later had rocked him to his core.
But now, it was time for her to achieve her true destiny. Up in the sky, the solar eclipse was just beginning. While the natural energy of the universe was focused in this way, Gallows could make use of it for his own ends.
Gallows lifted his eyepatch and felt the lids that had long ago been sewn together, not so much to cover the empty socket but to hide a sinister treasure. It was an immensely powerful thing, but could unfortunately only be fully utilized by feminine hands. He pulled a Swiss Army knife from his pocket and slit the ancient threads, registering the pain not at all. The opening revealed not a gore-encrusted socket, but a jewel that he plucked out with some difficulty. Replacing the patch, he cleaned jewel with a handkerchief and held it over the grave. When he took his hand away, the jewel remained suspended there, focusing the rays of the suns corona barely visible at the edges of the eclipse.
The ground covering the grave began to shake. With an earsplitting crack, the tombstone cracked in half.
The corrosive black light began to eat a hole in the earth, exposing the top of a decaying coffin. The lid crumbled to ash, allowing the black light to bathe the corpse.
The head snapped towards him. The mouth opened, releasing a nauseating stench. Gallows coughed and backed away, snatching the jewel out of the air.
A strange thing began to happen to the corpse. The right half of its body began to regenerate itself (along with the right half of the clothing it wore) while the left half remained decayed. The wispy decayed hair filled out on one side and grew down to her shoulder.
With slow, deliberate movement, the thing crawled from the coffin. Gallows reached down and took her hand, easily lifting her out.
She turned her face so that the only the restored side were visible.
"Creighton? There's…there's someone in here with me. What's…happening…?"
The voice sounded confused…not scared, to her credit…but very confused.
Before he could answer, the face whipped the other way. The empty socket regarded him from the ravaged face.
"You have what is Mine. Give it to me!" The decayed hand came up, rotted fingers splayed. Gallows rose into the air, and felt his head twist slowly to the side until he screamed in agony.
The Kate-thing grunted a word in the language of Death, and Gallows flew backward into the wall of a mausoleum. The stone cracked, and Gallows slid to the ground.
"Help me, and it's yours!" he shouted.
"Help you?" the voice asked. It sounded faintly amused.
She walked over to where Gallows lay (her body trailing ashes as she went), and the rotting fingers gently stroked Gallows' cheek. Where she touched, the cheek sank inward, the side of his face becoming gaunt and stretched tightly over the skull. His remaining eye yellowed and darkened, and the thick iron-grey hair became white and fine.
Gallows felt a pain in his chest…she was leeching the life from him…immortality was no proof against the incarnation of Death itself.
"This is the only 'help' I offer, Gallows-God. It is my gift to you. Enjoy." she whispered hotly in his ear. The stench was impossible this side of Hell.
"Kate…d-don't let her…do th-this…" Gallows muttered with his remaining breath.
The fingers pulled away. Slowly, his flesh returned to normal as his immortality reversed the damage. If he had been human, he would already be dead.
The thing shook its head violently back and forth.
"No! Impossible! This…cannot…be!"
Gallows laughed grimly as he stood.
"You may be the Goddess of Death, Hel. But so was Kate, in her own way. If anybody can keep you in line, it's her.
The skull-face snapped upward, and the half-mouth shrieked. Hundreds of birds took flight from nearby trees at the sound, and more than a few dozen plummeted to earth dead. The grass under her feet turned brown and died, the decay expanding around her in a widening circle. Gallows watched with trepidation as the edge of the circle came closer and closer. Then it stopped.
The restored half of her face looked at him. "Sweetie…it has been far too long!"
Gallows breathed a sigh of relief. He now stood a chance.
Kate walked over to Gallows who held out the Eye of Hel (which served as both her prison and the source of the Death Goddess' power), and plucked it deftly from his hand. Fitting it into the remains of her own empty eye socket caused the complete restoration of her body. She looked as she had just before Peter Hale ripped out her throat. The jewel turned into a functioning eye, though dead black in color.
"Ahhhhhh! That is so much better! The other is trapped within me now. Everything she knows, everything she was is now mine…all of her power is at your disposal, sweetie. Now…tell your favorite kick-ass Hunter exactly…what…I can do for you."
Kate approached and ran a finger softly up the Gallows' chest, causing him to shudder as long-forgotten feelings surged within him.
"The Hunters are all but wiped out. I need an army, Kate. Can you find me one?"
Kate smiled broadly at him. "Too easy, baby. Your army is right here."
Kate whipped her head to the side, and glared around at the graveyard, whispering something Gallows could not hear. The dead black eye shone as one by one, every tombstone in the graveyard began to crack in half. The earth trembled underfoot as the decaying occupants slowly clawed their way through to the surface of the darkened world.
"Hpmph. I guess the dead really do rise at the End of Times. So much for me ditching Bible Study. Listen babe, our army needs a General…someone a little smarter than these guys are going to be. Did you have anyone in mind?" she asked, as the zombie hoard assembled in front of them, all of the dead of Beacon Hills buried since the town was founded (barring it's werewolf population; those corpses remained still).
"Thorbardin would serve well; but he's loyal to his men, and I don't think he has the stomach, wit or instinct to handle this situation. I need to elevate him somehow."
"Then we need to visit Hel's brother."
Gallows spat to the side. "The Wolf? Are you mad?"
"No…her other brother."
Slowly, an evil smile crept over Gallows' face.
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A light house stood at the highest point in Beacon Hills, overlooking the ocean where it stood poised on the edge of the cliff. It was a magnificent specimen of classical architecture, lovingly maintained by generations of keepers so that it seemed as if it were built yesterday. It was for this lighthouse that the town of Beacon Hills was named. Two figures walked up to the elderly gentleman who was the current keeper of the structure. Pleased to see visitors, he smiled and waved at them. Kate approached and wrapped her arms around the surprised man's neck, brought his face up to hers and kissed him. He screamed as flesh boiled on his body, aging to putrefaction in moments before falling off in steaming hunks that quickly turned to ash. The bones fell a second later, collapsing into a pile of powder.
They entered and made their way up the long winding staircase until they reached the armature that housed the giant light bulb. Kate leaned over and breathed softly on the bulb. The glass turned dark, and it gained a black radiance that seemed to absorb light rather than shed it.
"Seal the town." Gallows told her. Kate nodded softly, and uttered a few short words that would have been unpronounceable for a human. A black beam shot up, blowing the roof of the lighthouse to bits and racing skywards to the conjoined sun and moon. The darkness spread outward, forming a dome that encompassed all of Beacon Hills. From this moment, none would enter or leave until Ragnarok was over.
The two quickly stepped outside to the circular balcony that ringed the top of the lighthouse and stood next to a foghorn present since the lighthouse was built. Kate once more leaned over and let her breath waft over it. The metal darkened until it resembled obsidian, and Gallows took hold of the small crank and wound it three times. The shocking noise that roared across the ocean caused a tremor to rock Beacon Hills. People screamed and dropped what they were holding at the horrendous sound. Sleeping residents bolted awake as if from nightmare, and at least one unfortunate citizen drove his car into a ditch, killing him instantly, though two stowaway children on board managed to survive.
"That was enough to awaken Him. Now you just have to get His attention. Good luck with that!" Kate laughed softly. Something danced in her eyes (well, the human one anyway) that Gallows didn't exactly like. Then again, sharing your body with the Goddess of Death was likely to warp anyone's sense of humor. The two made their way down to the base of the lighthouse, and stood atop the cliff overlooking the ocean. Gallows racked his brain for the Summoning, and it came to him after a few moments, though he had last thought of it some years before the human race sported thumbs.
Gallows held his arms high, and shouted orders at the tide…much like King Canute once did to show his people that some things were beyond even a king's dominion. 'Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws.' he had proclaimed.
The tide failed to obey the King…but the bellow of the cursed foghorn (combined with the power of the eclipse) lent power to his words, and at Gallow's command the ocean began to boil.
Something moved beneath the waves, something that had slept since even before the Wolf was imprisoned. A voice echoed in his mind.
"What do you sssseek, All-Father? Or ssshould I sssay 'All-Traitor!" the voice hissed into his mind. It practically seethed with hatred and scorn.
Gallows swallowed noisily. The power he sensed was unimaginable…Fenrir was not the only creature that grew strong even when chained. "Hail, Mid-gard Serpent! Soon I will battle Your brother for the last time, Jormungandr! Aid me, and I will repay you!"
Mocking laughter echoed through his mind. "Fool! You cassst me into the oceansss, forced Me to ssswallow my tail and encircle this world of pitiful mortals, and now you ssseek My aid? Begone! I would not aid you, even if you ssspoke the truth…which you do not! You would never free Me! Your heart isss blacker than Mine, blacker even than My father'ssss! May Fenrir crack your bonessss in Hissss teeth!"
"I have no reason to lie. I will not free you, but I can reward you in other ways. You are hungry, serpent? I can provide you with flesh to sate your appetite! An army of men to feast on!" Gallows would sacrifice every human in the town to the serpent if it required it. What use would he have for them once the Wolf was dead?
The sibilant voice hissed as it considered his words.
"What would you have me do? I am bound by your handsss, and know not what favor you wisssh of Me."
"Fenrir has an army filled with His essence. Give us a soldier filled with yours to fight them!" Kate shouted.
The sibilant voice was filled with malice as it hissed with laughter.
"You are… not quite My sister! Yet you wisssh Me to sssire a Ssserpent's Child? Sssuch has not been done for agesss…" The Serpent under the waves considered. "Very well…sssend to Me your warriorsss…I will devour all but one, the sssstrongest, who ssshall receive My gift."
Gallows smiled grimly before unclipping a walkie from his belt.
"Thorbardin! This is Gallows. Move the ship close to shore. I have…a little training exercise for you."
"Roger that. ETA in thirty. Thorbardin out." came the static filled voice.
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Thorbardin looked out over the ocean from the crow's nest. The sky was doing funny things, aside from the eclipse. There was a dark purple haze in the air…the sky over Beacon Hills was the color of fresh bruises, and there was a leaden feeling in his chest at the sight of it. The ship drew in close to shore, and Thorbardin spied Gallows and some woman standing on the cliff top, regarding them silently. Then the ship struck something beneath the waves. Worried they had gone aground on some hidden reef, Thorbardin peered into the water…and what he saw made him quail with terror.
A baleful golden eye was regarding him from beneath the surface. A serpentine iris widened slightly as it glared at him. The gold was embedded in a sea of green scales, and was larger than the ship itself. Thorbardin screamed as the ship was struck again, cracking in two like a china plate in a shooting gallery. Thorbardin leapt as far overboard as he could just as the enormous fanged jaws broke the surface and closed over the ship. It looked like the nightmare child of a dragon and a pit viper, its green diamond-patterned scales reflecting emerald light into his eyes. The screams of his men were cut off, disappearing beneath the ocean as the monster sank once more. Instead of swimming away, he let himself be carried by the enormous wave, knowing that he would never make it to shore if the thing sensed his movements. Looking below, he screamed again as he spotted the baleful eye…directly beneath him. That was when the voice filled his mind.
"Your fellowssss will take a thoussssand yearssss to die. Do not dream of esssscape. You are Mine, now and forever! Would you live, and be sssstronger than all your wretched race? Tell Me sssswiftly, elsssse be devoured with the resssst!"
"YES! Please, whoever you are, don't kill me!" the soldier shouted.
Golden lights began to flow upward from the enormous eye.
"Assss My Agent, you will be beyond Death. Come to Me!"
Thorbardin swallowed what would likely be his last real breath of air, and looked downward once more at the impossibly huge creature that writhed beneath him. It occurred to him that the day might come when he wished he had chosen otherwise.
A single tear joined the salt water of the sea as he let himself slowly sink beneath the waves.
Then the ocean turned black.
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"Kate, let's go. We have debts to pay. Old debts."
Kate gave him that half-smile he had always loved. She took his arm in hers and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Thanks for getting me back, sweetie. You know, one thing they never tell you about the afterlife…it's so boring! I mean, come on…burning, for all eternity? I stopped screaming a week into it. It tapered off to just being tedious after a while. Did you gods not put any imagination into the torture of souls? Put me in charge down there, and watch what happens."
"Help me finish the job we started, and you can be in charge down there."
She let go of him and skipped a few steps ahead, Gallows noting only dimly that the trailing ashes continued to fall from her. "So, you want to rule the world and Underworld with me by your side, Creighton-baby?" she smiled as she turned to face him. She slowly began to unbutton her blouse. He groaned at the sight of her full breasts as she let the garment drop to the ground.
In answer, he kissed her. She held her power in check, and the kiss did him no harm. He lay her gently down on the ground as he fumbled with his own clothing. They took their time with their lovemaking; for Gallows, it had been entirely too long. The world could go to Hel for all he cared, as long as Kate was his.
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When the first light of the ending eclipse lanced downward and struck the water, a naked form crawled through the surf. Thorbardin's tanned muscular body had now turned a pale alabaster white. The blond hair on his head had fallen out, though it did nothing to detract from his appearance. As his strength slowly returned, he gained his feet and looked around. He was alone on the beach. The bodies of his mercs would never be found, though to be truthful no thought of them projected itself on the blank screen of his mind.
The voice from under the sea, the voice that came from the gargantuan snake that lay under the ocean, once more echoed through his mind.
"Find the one you once sssserved…"
Thorbardin's lips moved, though barely any sound came forth. The thing in the sea heard him, though. "Do I not serve him still?"
The response was accompanied by the horrifying sound of a serpent laughing:
"We sssshall sssseeee!"
A shudder ran through Thorbardin, and his skin began to darken as the ridges of new scales quietly erupted from his flesh. His eyes turned golden, the reptilian irises glinting in the false twilight brought on by the eclipse. In his open mouth, there were teeth beyond count.
Awaiting him further down the beach was a motionless army of corpses. They stood in silent rank and file, their grinning death's heads regarding him with soulless delight, knowing that they would soon be adding to their ranks among the unsuspecting populace of Beacon Hills. As one, the dead wordlessly saluted their new commander, only the creaking of long unused leathery ropes of muscle breaking the silence. Some of the corpses were newly dead… those unlucky souls that encountered the zombies on their march from the cemetery down to the beach were killed without mercy, and partially feasted upon before the will of Hel animated them and swelled the ranks of their Slayers. Each death meant a new soldier, the army of Hel would grow until all of Beacon Hills was a Necropolis. If Gallows won, the same fate would await the whole world.
Thorbardin took his place at the front line, and with a loud hiss he began to search for his prey.
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Had Mrs. Kean learned to control her new gifts a little better…had she been able to use her senses just a little more efficiently, it would never have happened. The two children were communicating in a language that they had apparently invented a while ago; perhaps necessary for mischief-making in a world where parents and fun-stopping adults had the very sharpest of ears. They must have come up with this plan during the car ride some time after all of the screaming and hysterics about wanting to be with their parents had finally tapered off. Maria remembered the pickup truck at the gas station bound for Beacon Hills; remembered the urge she had to tell the driver to steer clear for the next week or so. As she bought some snacks in the gas station convenience store, the truck roared off…obviously taking the two children with it. Maria got back in her car and drove as fast as she could, eating up the miles back to town and yet failing to spot the truck until she came to the border of Beacon Hills. She finally found the truck in a ditch, the driver dead and his vehicle empty. The strong scents of the children still lingered, and Mrs. Kean made to follow the trail…but something was stopping her. A wall that was invisible except for a slight violet haze ran as far as she could see from left to right and up into the sky. Beacon Hills was sealed off from the world, and the two helpless children were trapped inside with gods and monsters.