"Shit!" Misha cried, hurrying his pace as he shut the front door of the mansion behind him and looked down to his phone, the words Call Dropped, appearing on the screen, "The line is dead."
"Which means that Elijah may have already run into our hunter friend..." Chogun said, looking over his shoulder toward the warlock before helping Bonnie into the back of the truck with Jeremy and one of Chogun's spirit warriors, now back in human form, "How far is the town line?"
"About ten minutes," Kol said out the driver's side window as he pulled Misha's Jeep up behind the truck, with Rebekah in the passenger seat.
"Just in time for dusk…" Misha added, nodding to Chogun and the old man smirked, remembering his plan.
"Right!" Chogun replied, then looked over to one of the passing warriors, "Do we have all the supplies we need?"
"It's in the back, Great One," the warrior bowed as he rounded the back of the truck as he hopped up into the passenger seat.
Chogun nodded, then leaped up into the truck bed with the others, turning to Bonnie, "I'll need your help, but we won't have much preparation time..."
"I've had shorter," Bonnie shrugged
Chogun smiled at her then pounded his fist on the top of the truck cab to signal the leader of the spirit warriors to drive, "Let's go!"
Within moments, the truck roared to life and took off, the three in the back watching behind them as Misha hopped through the back passenger side door of the Jeep and Kol followed the truck down the long driveway and out onto the main road.
# # # # # #
Elena screamed as Dominic jumped onto the hood of the car with vampire speed and thrust his hand through the windshield, shattering the glass before taking hold of Elijah's throat and pulling the original out of car.
"Elijah! No!" Elena cried, watching in stunned horror as the hunter tossed Elijah with unfathomable speed nearly a hundred yards past the town line, where he landed hard on the asphalt and didn't move.
Then suddenly, the hunter turned and his dark eyes were focused on her.
Elena swallowed and quickly hit the floor of the car, just as Dominic's hand moved swiftly through the open windshield frame for her.
He grunted as he missed and lodged his fist in the space between the head rest and the back of the seat, struggling to pull it free.
It gave Elena just enough time to open the car door, swiftly slide out and roll under the car.
When Dominic finally got his hand free, he slid off of the hood and eyed the still opened passenger door, then looked around for any sign of Elena.
There were a few moments of silence as Elena tried to slowly slide herself along the ground under the car toward the back end of the vehicle and the trunk, where she knew that Elijah had put their supplies, including a chest of weapons and Vivienne's grimoire.
Then suddenly, she felt the front of the car jolt and immediately knew what was happening…
Dominic was lifting the car.
"Oh…oh...God…" Elena breathed, trying to steel herself as she gripped tightly to the underside of the car and felt herself lifted from ground with the vehicle, then turned perpendicular in the air as Dominic lifted the Mercedes and looked below it.
"Where are you little doppelganger?!" Dominic called, his accent thick, as he looked along the empty ground, then to the surrounding forest, "You cannot hide forever!"
Elena looked down to the hunter below her, trying not to exude any sounds of panic as she slowly and quietly began to climb the car's metal framework to get to the back of the car.
In moments, she reached the trunk and climbed back over to the top side, using her vampire strength to break the lock and open it, just as Dominic dropped the car hard, sending Elena and the contents of the trunk tumbling out onto the road.
He must have heard her or looked up and seen her, she reasoned…
Dominic immediately appeared in front of her with vampire speed, eying her up and down as she lay gasping on the asphalt with the trunk's contents strewn around her, including numerous books and a weapons that had spilled from Elijah's weapons chest.
"Well…hello, there…" Dominic smirked cheekily and Elena grimaced in anger as she tried to ignore the pain from her fall and rolled onto her side, then her knees and struggled to her feet to take up one of the broadswords that now lay beside her.
Dominic watched her with amusement until she had the sword in hand and made straight for him with her own vampire speed.
Immediately, his face fell as he swiftly thrust out his left hand and captured Elena' around the throat, then threw out his right hand to stop her arm where she still wielded the sword in mid-air, aiming to strike him.
She instantly began to struggle as Dominic tisked and shook his head.
"So much courage and strength for one so young…" He said, narrowing his eyes as he studied Elena up and down, then turned his head toward her hand still grasping the sword, "But, I'm a thousand years old, therefore, it will take much more courage and far more strength to defeat me, I'm afraid…"
Then he smirked as he turned his head back toward Elena and watched her gasp in pain as he applied pressure to her forearm with his right hand, steadily increasing it until she dropped the sword and it clanged as it fell to the asphalt at their feet.
Dominic released her arm and Elena moaned in relief, but didn't waste any time continuing to struggle free from his grasp, tugging at his hands around her throat and taking swings at him.
"My…" Dominic observed bringing his face closer to Elena's and gave a smirk, "You are a feisty one aren't you?"
Elena growled, her eyes suddenly changing as she continued to struggle under Dominic's hold, then she opened her mouth and bared her fangs.
"Oooh!" Dominic cried with glee as he leaned back before Elena could bite him, "I like you! You've got fight in you-a warrior's spirit! What I said before about not having enough strength and courage to fight me...Don't be offended my little warrior, most don't…"
Suddenly, Elena stopped struggling and Dominic watched as small smile crossed her own face as he leaned forward toward him, her eyes still dark and her fangs still prominent.
"Well, lucky for me… I know someone who does..." she said, shifting her eyes quickly to side as if looking to something or someone, then when she felt Dominic's body relax against hers for just a second, used the leverage to lean over slightly and, with her vampire strength, kick the sword at their feet out and up where it immediately found its way into Elijah's hands.
Elijah soon appeared behind Dominic with vampire speed and the original wasted no time running the hunter through with the sword before he could even turn around.
Dominic groaned and immediately released his hold on Elena and threw her down hard onto the road before he turned swiftly to face Elijah, keeping eye contact as he disjointed his shoulder and reached behind himself, grabbing the hilt of the sword as if unphased and pulling it from his chest, dripping with blood.
Elijah took a measured step back then heard Elena's voice in the distance.
"Elijah!" she called from where she lay behind the hunter before launching another sword from the spilled arsenal into the air toward him.
Elijah jumped slightly to catch it, then swung it around with his wrist and rolled his shoulders as he lowered himself into a fighting stance, watching as Dominic circled him, the blood stained sword in his hand also at the ready.
Elena gasped in awe as she watched to two men circle each other for another moment before Dominic made the first move and they began to fight, the sound of their swords clinging in the otherwise silent night.
Elena grunted as she turned on her side and came up to her knees, willing her vampire features away and reaching out for a weapon of her own to join the fight and help Elijah…
But, then she felt a hand on her shoulder, steadying her and holding her back.
It was Kol.
Elena opened her mouth to speak as she sat back down on the asphalt opposite the younger original, surprise and gratitude crossing her face, but Kol immediately put his index finger to his lips to silence her, then held out his opposite hand to her.
Elena eyed the item in the palm of his hand, then quirked an eyebrow as she looked back up to him.
Ear plugs.
Kol rolled his eyes and took the ear plugs resting in his palm and gently placed one in her left ear, then before placing the one in the right, leaned forward and whispered, "We need to get back across the town line. Don't worry. We've got a plan. Leave Dominic to us."
A look of worry crossed Elena's face and her eyes shifted to Elijah for a moment, but when her ear plugs were in place she nodded to Kol and let him help her up and lead her past the mangled Mercedes toward the town line where she now saw Rebekah and Jeremy waiting for her.
Jeremy immediately took hold of her and pulled her into a hug and Elena smiled as she buried her face into her brother's shoulder, happy to be reunited with him.
But, their reunion didn't last long as as the ground suddenly rumbled and quaked below their feet, causing them to separate and look back across the town line to where Elijah and Dominic battled.
It was then that they saw Misha.
He had appeared out of the tree line and now passed in front of them along the town line, walking steadily around the back of the car and to the front.
Elijah had just dodged a blow and kicked Dominic square in the chest, causing the hunter to fly back and land hard against the hood of the Mercedes when Misha appeared at Elijah side, walking out from the around the hood of the car, where he had now created a half circle around himself, Dominic and Elijah.
His eyes were focused hard on Dominic and he held a bundle of burning sage in his hand, waiving the smoke in different directions as he watched the two men lower their swords in the stunned realization that they were not alone.
"Misha?" Elijah whispered, a small smile crossing his face as Misha came to stand next to his friend.
"Here. Take these and put them in," Misha said, holding out a pair of ear plugs to Elijah with his free hand, but not taking his eyes off of Dominic as he continued to wield the sage.
"Fool," Dominic spat, eying his brother as he now stood in front of the Mercedes' headlights, "What are you doing?"
"Just marking the path…" Misha replied then cocked his head as he looked hard at his brother, "To you."
Suddenly, the sound of drums permeated the night air and Dominic raised his sword as he looked to the surrounding woods, searching for the noise.
"I'm sorry, Brother…" Misha said, his eyes sad, then turned to Elijah and put a hand on the Original's shoulder, "Let's go."
Elijah immediately used his vampire speed to move them past Dominic and to the woods, where they reappeared, out of the tree line on the other side of the town line.
"Elijah…" Elena breathed in relief and raced into his arms, jumping into them as Misha, Rebekah and Jeremy watched Dominic turn to face them, dropping his sword as he started pacing in a circle, clearly trapped by whatever magic Misha had used to subdue him as he ran into it's invisible barriers.
From deep in the woods the sound of the drums grew like a loud heart beat and a Native voice pierced the night with it's singing.
Dominic continued to push against the barrier of the circle as the singing grew closer, snarling at the figures standing behind the town line, watching and waiting to witness his fate.
The Native wailing continued as the drum beat grew louder...
Suddenly, Chogun appeared from the tree line, accompanied by his spirit warriors in their animal forms as he continued singing.
Bonnie followed close behind, her eyes black as Chogun used her to channel the magic of his ancestors and keep the large deer skin drum in her hands beating steadily like a supernatural heart.
Dominic now stopped moving and faced the Algonquin necromancer, his eyes darkening as he let loose a primal growl.
"Are you sure the barrier is going to hold long enough for Chogun to do what he needs to do?" Rebekah asked, looking worriedly over to Misha.
Misha furrowed his brow, "I'm not sure. It's not my magic, it's Chogun's. I just borrowed it. There was no way my magic was strong enough to hold him. I wouldn't worry, though, Chogun knows how to take care of himself. And we are safe behind the town line. Dominic cannot cross it."
"What about Bonnie?!" Jeremy suddenly stepped forward, "Bonnie's still in there!"
"I'm sure she'll will be fine, Jer…" Elena interjected, taking hold of Jeremy's arm, but her voice sounded more assuring than she felt, "It will be over soon. Let's just watch."
It was just then that Chogun's singing stopped abruptly, but Bonnie kept beating the drum steadily, the power of Chogun's native ancestors flowing through her.
Dominic and Chogun shared an intimate stare for a moment before Dominic took in a breath and reached out toward the binding circle Misha had cast, his hand passing easily through.
It was gone.
Gone… or let down?
Dominic narrowed his eyes at the old man for a moment then smirked when he saw Chogun step forward, wielding his tall, walking stick his hand as the drum beat on.
Dominic took it as a challenge and prepared to step forward, himself…
But suddenly the tree line parted and a the figure of a monster emerged quickly onto the road between Dominic and Chogun, lured by the old shaman's singing and the drum heartbeat of its ancestors.
It was tall—nearly seven feet—with a wiry build, white pale skin and white patches of hair on its body. Its face looked as if it might have been human once, but now looked to be more animal than man with a long jagged nose and sharp pointed teeth.
It cast a glance toward Chogun, then it swiftly turned and focused his steely blue eyes on the hunter, it's claws scraping the asphalt road as it leaned down on its hands and let out a fierce wail that caused Dominic to fall over in pain from the sheer volume.
No wonder they needed the ear plugs…
"Holy…" Elijah whispered in shock, then turned swiftly to Misha, "A wendigo?! That was your plan?!"
Misha nodded
"We needed a demon we could control, to capture a demon that we couldn't!" he shouted over the noise.