Chapter 29
The things that he did in heaven; the wars he fought and the lives he took, were all because of Dean. Dean's heart and his reckless determination to do what was right; what he held in the sake of freedom were what inspired Castiel so many times to rise up and rally his forces against Raphael. He did it because the alternative would have the world laid asunder, and Dean cast down to a place Castiel could not reach. He could not stand in the face of heaven's judgement and accept that he would never see Dean's smile again. Or hear his laugh. Or look into his eyes. He could not imagine a life where he was unable to be close to Dean; to touch him; to love him freely. And now, standing next to the man, preparing to fight countless foes in the inevitable massacre before them, Castiel said a silent prayer hoping that Dean would find the same strength from being next to him as well.
"Ready, Cas?" Dean asked and Cas sent an array of images to his lover. Symbols of warmth, affection, fear, and longing. Those things that Cas was feeling because he couldn't protect Dean here. It was Dean's wish that Cas protect Sam instead.
I know, I love you too, Cas heard Dean's raspy voice say in his mind, and his heart bloomed with the words the hunter couldn't say out loud. He reached over and gave Dean's hand a quick squeeze before shifting his focus to the area around them. They seemed to have made it to the mountain ridge undetected. Wonder of wonders that was, and Castiel was convinced now more than ever that this was a terrible trap. Below them, the monster encampment stretched out of sight. Thousands upon thousands of monsters huddled in mud huts and low tents looking ever the army that no hunter originally believed them capable of. The sight was horrifying; like the cusp of Armageddon all over again.
At the very edge of the mountain, looking down into the face of oblivion, stood Sam. Confident and brazen and powerful. Castiel smiled to himself a little seeing how far the younger brother had come. Touching him earlier, Castiel allowed himself the brief invasion of exploring Sam's soul without his permission. He went to that shadowed place he acknowledged before and probed at it. Castiel suspected this was where Gabriel set up his own little domain and he wanted to know how much that influenced Sam. In that brief instant of contact, he couldn't see much, but he could see enough to know that there was a barb tucked into Sam's soul. One that very clearly influenced his feelings towards Castiel.
For whatever reason, Gabriel wanted Sam to hate Castiel. It didn't matter. Cas will be able to easily remove the barb when this battle was over and Sam would go back to being Sam again. More importantly, Castiel could go back to being his friend. He hated the tension between them now. The simple fix was necessary. Especially for Dean's sake.
Sam turned to face them. "Everyone be ready, I will start the assault but it won't take long before they figure out what is going on and where it is coming from. I will take out as many as I can, but the only way we will survive this is by keeping them off of this mountain. No matter what you do, do not let them up here."
"Just try to knock them out Sammy, not kill them," Dean reminded as he glanced over at Castiel, and Sam rolled his eyes; obviously annoyed.
"Yeah, Dean. I know. I get it." Turning back to the encampment below, Sam lifted his Recurve, and the Fist and Chosen alike stood ready for anything. Tilting his bow towards the sky, Sam lifted his head and closed his eyes. Suddenly his body was filled with Grace. It was not like anything Castiel had seen before. It was more Grace then he knew could exist in one place. He didn't understand why Sam's body didn't burn from the intensity of it. It was terrifying and awe inspiring all at once.
Sam's breath was steady as he pulled back on the invisible string of his bow. In an instant, the Recurve erupted in a spray of arrows. Hundreds of wisps of light ejected from it only to bend in the air and reform into a weave that Castiel recognized as the one woven from Grace to render beings unconscious. The entire process was utterly astounding.
With the weave complete the arrows rained down on the creatures below. Without thought, Cas projected the vision to Dean who would be unable to see it with his naked eyes, and Dean gasped from the sight of it. The camp lit up like a city skyline in the dimming afternoon. His angelic eyes could pick out individual creatures stumbling and falling into unconsciousness while others rose to their feet trying to figure out what was going on.
Castiel attempted to bend strands of Grace the way he witnessed Sam doing it, and he was able to spear a few monsters of his own, rendering them unconscious, but he barely held a candle to Sam's flame. Through his efforts, Sam had already sent two more volleys of arrows against the army and for a brief moment, Castiel wondered if they could remedy this problem without bloodshed. Then the monsters caught sight of them on the mountain.
Monsters sprang to action and ran towards a swooping path that scaled the length of the mountain ridge. Noticing the path they climbed, Cas shifted his attention and plunged spears of Grace into the rock wall to tumble large boulders across the area in front of them. It would not stop them, but certainly slow them down. The Chosen moved to the edge and worked their own spirit arrows, one at a time, into the monsters scaling up the path at supernatural speeds.
"I can sense her," Sam said absently beside Castiel, and the angel studied his vacant expression. "Serrath. I can sense that she is doing something…she's…" Suddenly, a black cloud boiled out of the middle of the camp and shot up towards the sky. It looked like the vile consistency of demon spirit but magnified tenfold. In mere moments, the sky was blacked out by the smoke and shrouded the area in darkness. Castiel didn't understand. Why did Serrath go to such lengths to turn the afternoon to night?
Then the world around them erupted as night creatures broke free from the earth and charged at them. Hundreds of vampires, lycan, and undead amassed all around the mountain ridge, poised and ready to attack. This must have been the trap intended to flank the hunters and bring a quick end to the assault. Some of the creatures rose right amidst their ranks and tore into members of the Fist as they were trying to redirect their attention.
One vampire lunged past the group and ran straight for Sam. Castiel was ready for him, willing to melt the bastards face with his Grace, but the vampire pivoted at the last instant. In that brief moment, Castiel was terrified that the creature was going to lay in to Dean, but instead he lunged at the group of Chosen and sank his teeth into Donna's neck.
"No!" Shawn cried and plunged an arrow into the Vampires back. Sam didn't flinch. Again and again he rained arrows down and hundreds of monsters dropped to the ground. Thousands remained.
"This needs to go faster, Sam," Dean said urgently. Cas glanced behind them and could see hunters being overwhelmed with the number of flanking monsters assaulting them.
"It would," Sam bit through his teeth, "if I was allowed to actually kill them." Dean studied his brother for a moment, and then he turned to look at Castiel. Castiel turned away. Dean knew how he was feeling. He didn't want to look him in the eye and say it.
"Do it," he heard Dean say softly, and Sam stepped closer to the mountain's edge. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath; letting it out slowly. He lifted his Recurve, and deftly pulled against the invisible string. If Cas hadn't seen it, he would never have believed the amount if Grace that erupted from the bow. Sam was stronger than him. Stronger than Michael. Heaven help him, Sam may even be stronger than God.
How any of this was possible, he could not begin to understand, but as the monsters around him burst into flame, it was Gabriel's face Cas saw in the fire. In an instant, the creature's that struggled to reach them were all gone. Thousands destroyed in a heartbeat. The area grew eerily silent as monsters further down the mountain tried to make sense of what just happened in front of them. Smiling slightly, Sam turned and looked at his brother.
"Piece of cake," he said with a chuckle. Suddenly, Sam cried out and doubled over to cough blood through clenched teeth. He clutched at his stomach, his face twisted in pain.
"Sam!" Dean shouted and he went to help his brother to the ground.
"It's the witch, Serrath," Castiel said urgently, "she is using magic on him." Sam writhed under the assault.
"Do something!" Dean pleaded at him, "Stop this, please!" Castiel glanced at Donna. Everything was happening so quickly, but if he could reach her, he could heal her. "Cas!" Castiel looked to Dean and their eyes met. Blue to green; speaking volumes. Please, you have to save my brother. Nothing else matters. You have to save him now!
Castiel space shifted to the encampment below. He did not let himself become visible to those around him, but even going unseen, some of the monsters paused in their rush up the mountainside to look his way. Castiel searched around him at the lifeforms and pinpointed the one he wanted. Space shifting once more, he appeared in a low tent that was lit by dim lanterns. Carpets decorated the floor and pillows stacked in the corners, but the room appeared vacant. This didn't make sense. He could sense that Serrath was in this room. He should be able to see past any type of spell she was casting…
"Fighting his battles," hissed a low voice. It sounded like rustling leaves on a bitter night wind, and Castiel whirled to see the brush of movement escape into a shadowed corner. He dashed to where he last saw her, but she had vanished from the room. Her presence was gone as well. He could feel her in the distance, close but too far to be among her people… the mountain! Castiel shifted again, desperate to reach her.
Seconds had past and he materialized next to where he had been only to find the scene around him much different than before. A shadow of movement cut away at hunters and Chosen alike. Donna, already struggling with a loss of blood, now lay lifeless with blood seeping from her eyes, and her mouth. Shawn, laying next to her, choked on the blood pooling in his lungs. Castiel leaned over and healed him quickly, correcting what was bent inside him. A few feet away, Kim struggled to her feet with a gash oozing blood at her hairline. Castiel moved to heal her too.
"Cas!" Dean called out and Castiel turned to see a dark shadow clouding over Sam. As soon as it reached him, Sam screamed in pain. How had she gotten there so quickly? This was far beyond any magic that Castiel had seen before. He shifted towards her, hoping to catch her off guard, but the shadow sensed him instantly, and red eyes turned to meet his. The gaze mortified him. To his very bones. And Cas found himself unable to react.
Castiel watched as the shadow lifted a misty arm, and with a flash of red light, a long shaft with a balled end appeared in her hand. The scepter. Not knowing what to do; not knowing how to break the spell that had him frozen in place; not knowing how to defeat the witch, Castiel could only watch. Dean! I'm so sorry, Dean.
Then Sam rolled onto his side, and in spite of his pain, was able to lift his Recurve and fire a shot at the scepter. The Grace weaved into a binding spell and snapped around the length of the rod. Castiel watched amazed; studying the way the binding spell worked. An instant later, the thing winked out of sight.
With the scepter gone, some of the monsters cresting the hill stopped their assent and looked around confused. The fear that binded Castiel in place, melted away as well. Serrath snarled, dead leaves crumbling, and plunged misty fingers into Sam's chest. Sam screamed even louder. Castiel stumbled towards them, feeling clumsy on numb legs, but Dean was already there. The hunter pulled out his Colt and fired it into the mist that was Serrath. The mist seemed to expand around the bullet, and it passed through the body without effect.
Serrath turned to Dean and hissed "try harder," then enhanced her efforts to harm Sam. Sam screamed and scrambled to position his Recurve again. The witch shifted and drove a spike of smoke into Sam's arm, pinning it to the ground. Castiel, feeling that he would be unable to get close enough to the witch, turned and reached for Kim instead. Healing hands mended the wound in her head, and Castiel pulled Kim to her feet.
"Kim!" Castiel breathed, "Shoot the witch. Shoot Serrath, now!" Some of the monsters Monsters started to crest the mountain ridge again. A few turned towards the hunters while others pulled at Serrath but the witch was unrelenting. Kim looked at Castiel with pure horror in her eyes and for a moment he didn't think she would be able to do it. Then Kim lifted her Recurve and aimed it at the mist. "Don't shoot Dean," Castiel whispered in her ear urgently just as Kim released her string, and plunged an arrow into Serrath's side.
"I did it!" She called out, and her face lit up delighted. The arrow lodged, suspended in smoke, and Serrath screamed as she twisted towards Kim.
"I don't understand…" Kim said hollowly. Serrath shifted off of Sam and then seemed to dissolve into the ground.
"…it's angel fire, it's supposed to kill her." Serrath appeared again, in the blink of an eye; next to where Kim stood, and plunged spears of black shadow into her heart. Kim screamed and Castiel placed his hands on her. He desperately tried to heal the havoc that Serrath tore into Kim. Kim howled between them. The stronger he tried to heal her, the more Serrath tore her apart until he realized he was only prolonging her pain. Her body was being ripped open only to heal and be ripped open again. Sadly, he let her go, and Serrath took her life.
Kim fell to the ground and the witch slipped into the earth with her. Castiel reached out to sense where the witch was, and realized that she was gone. Her spirit evaporated into the night just as her body did. Castiel scrambled to his feet and stumbled towards Sam. He was exhausted from the healing he attempted on Kim but he needed to help Dean's little brother.
The few monsters that remained seemed scattered and disorganized. The hunters had gained the advantage and many were already fleeing into the night.
Castiel could see Sam twisting on the ground and shifted to reach him. Beside him Dean was urgently telling Sam to pull it together. That he was okay and he needed to get up and run. Hell, they all did before whatever that thing was came back and did them in. Castiel reached Sam's side and he exchanged a glance with Dean.
"Sam. I'm here. Please let me help-"
Before Cas could say another word, Sam turned and fired an arrow of Grace into him. Castiel swerved from the shock and his eyes met Deans: confusion exchanged with horror, as Castiel buckled and fell hard to the ground.