A/N:

Well—here we are to the last regular chapter of the story. I hope you like it! An epilogue will be coming in a few days. I hope you will share your thoughts with me!

Best,

CKat


Chapter 56: Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall

Here come the teardrops

Bitter they are, harder they fall.

—"Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall" (songwriter Larry Gatlin)


Sookie had seen this version of the future—the one where Eric killed her. In fact, she had done everything that she could to get herself and Eric to it.

It was the best outcome she'd seen for them—the only outcome she was prepared to live with.

She just hoped she wouldn't be living for long.

As if in slow motion, she watched the dagger leave her beloved's hand and knew that it was on a true line toward her heart. Despite being in Appius's clutches, she moved to open herself to the sharp wooden blade, knowing that it would kill her the moment it pierced her.

She somehow knew that Appius was still mildly distracted by Thalia's latest attack. She somehow knew that the vampiress would have just enough strength to make one more attempt upon Appius—once she was dead and Eric fell, too.

Their bond had made them one, and now it would kill them—as one.

Sookie was ready.

Appius would feel the pain of his child—not just his physical pain, but his emotional pain.

Sookie knew it would be enough.

Thalia wouldn't hesitate, and Appius would die.

Finally.

The dagger spun end over end toward her—displacing the air with its precision.

Sending her beloved as much love as she could through their bond, Sookie looked into Eric's clear blue eyes—full of a mixture of hope and anguish; she wanted those eyes to be the last thing she saw.

Smiling a little, she let herself feel time speeding up again, normalizing.

She accepted her fate, and though the growling of Appius and Thalia should have drowned out any sound of the speeding weapon, Sookie imagined that she heard its whoosh—felt it coming.


Batanya watched the action in the room. She saw Thalia throw herself at Appius again and again. She saw the other warriors attempt to stop the eldest vampire she'd ever encountered. She marveled at how quickly Appius could move and recover.

She judged him for his sadistic tendencies where Eric and Sookie were concerned, but couldn't help but to admire his lethality.

The Britlingen catalogued the vampires and other creatures strewn across the ballroom. Most were critically injured. Others were clearly dead.

She'd never seen such decimation by a single creature, and—for the first time in her existence—she felt fear.

Even if she used her ability to phase in and out of the human dimension to her advantage, she knew she would not be quick enough to kill Appius. She was not that strong, fast, or merciless. She knew of no one—in any realm—who was.

Yes—she felt afraid.

She recognized this novel emotion—fear—for the first time, and she thought back to her discussion with the Ancient Pythoness.


[flashback]

"Why did you have Cataliades arrange for this meeting?" Batanya asked the vampiress.

"Tomorrow night, Sookie Stackhouse will find herself in danger—several times," the Ancient Pythoness informed, sitting forward. "And—in three instances—she will be very close to death."

"When? From whom?" Batanya snarled.

"I will freely tell you all that I have seen as well as the differences in what may come to pass," the Ancient Pythoness responded. "And then I will ask you to do something which will go against all that you are."

"What will you ask?" the Britlingen asked.

"I will ask you to hold back from protecting Sookie Stackhouse from the one who would harm her the most, especially when it seems as if the one who loves her the most is about to kill her."

"Impossible!" Batanya insisted. "My oath and my code will not allow me to do that."

"You hold those things as sacred, which is admirable; however, they do not bind you," the vampiress insisted.

"They do bind. They are magic," Batanya returned, even more forcefully.

"And if I told you that you will harm Sookie—kill her—if you do intervene? What then? What does this knowledge do to your oath and your code?"

Batanya contemplated for a moment. "It complicates things."

The Ancient Pythoness cackled. "Indeed, the whole situation is complicated, as the future always is once those in the present begin to affect it."

"And that is what you are doing? Affecting it?" Batanya asked.

"Trying," the vampiress sighed. "I am, sadly, not very good at this part of things, for there are too many variables."

"You want to prevent me from being one of those variables," Batanya stated with understanding.

"Yes."

The Britlingen contemplated for another moment. "What actions will I be allowed—if I cannot protect my charge?"

"What if I told you that you must do nothing?" the Ancient Pythoness asked.

Batanya growled. "I am yours to command—as long as Sookie Stackhouse survives what is coming."

The Ancient Pythoness seemed to sigh with great relief.

"I will not force you to do nothing. Your sword will be wet with the blood of two were-witches," the vampiress said, her voice trancelike. "Follow Sookie Stackhouse's lead, and you will know when you may kill the first of them." She seemed to shake herself from a vision before she continued. "You may follow your own lead for the second."

"Is that all?" Batanya asked after the vampiress had been silent for several minutes.

"Do you know fear?" the vampiress asked.

"I do not," the Britlingen answered quickly.

"Once you learn it, you will become a better creature—a better protector."

"I do not believe that," Batanya returned, shaking her head.

"Yet it is so."

"We will not agree on this," the Britlingen insisted stubbornly.

"We will, but not yet," the Ancient Pythoness answered with surety. "When we do, you will know what to do."

"And what is that?"

"Protect," the vampiress said, almost too softly for the Britlingen to hear. "Your fear will compel you to protect—not your charge, but your friend."

With that, the Ancient Vampiress motioned for her handmaiden to come forward—to escort Batanya from the room.

[flashback over]


"Fear," Batanya said to herself, even as she felt her heart beating faster. All of her inner organs—some similar to human anatomy and some not—seemed to tighten as well.

For a moment, she felt the desire to use her magic to flee, but she did not.

"Protect. My friend," she whispered, knowing that she did feel for Sookie Stackhouse—more than she was supposed to care about an assignment. She shimmered into the human realm with a whoosh, materializing between Sookie and the wooden dagger the Northman had sent toward her, and the object buried itself into her armor, not quite reaching her skin.


"No!" Sookie yelled out when she realized that the dagger had not killed her.

The sound was enough to refocus Appius, who immediately struck Batanya, hurling her to the floor.

"Britlingen," he growled. "Time to go, my child."

He slung Sookie over his shoulder and moved toward the door with all of his superior speed.

"Stop!" a female voice shaking with age and rage yelled from the opposite end of the ballroom.

The telepath truly understood what whiplash was as Appius came to a sudden halt.

Slowly, he turned.

"Release Sookie Stackhouse, and harm her no more!" the voice commanded.

Immediately, Sookie found herself being placed—rather gently—onto the floor.

"You bitch!" Appius yelled out, his voice anything but gentle.

"The Ancient Pythoness," Sookie heard Chow whisper. She looked around for him and found him very close to her; he was gazing at the elderly-looking vampiress as if transfixed, despite the fact that he'd lost a hand and was clearly gravely injured.

She cringed at her friend's condition and looked back at the Ancient Pythoness.

"Pythia," Appius spit out. "You once said that you were not destined to end me. Are you here to prove yourself a liar?" he asked with venom.

"I am not here to end you, though I wish I were," she answered him, even as those left conscious in the room became transfixed on the scene.

The ancient vampiress shuffled forward to the center of the room—near to where Eric was slumped over in pain, still obviously fighting against Appius's last commands to him.

As Sookie scooted away from Appius as best as she could, she couldn't help but to shiver—in pain and in fear as she watched Eric's struggle.

"It will be over soon, child," the Ancient Pythoness sighed.

"Over?" Appius laughed maniacally. "You have done all that you could to separate me from my child, but Eric is mine! He will always be mine!"

"As you are mine," Pythia stated flatly.

A few gasps of surprise were heard around the room at that revelation.

Pythia spoke loudly—clearly—even as one of her handmaidens seemed to be partly supporting her. "Knowing the future is a burden! Or a gift," she added, directing these words to Sookie. "But to me—more burden than gift, for I have never been able to turn it off or escape from it. The future is a monster to me."

"Your grace?" came Sophie-Anne's voice from near Sigebert, who was still prone. The queen shakily rose to her feet. "Appius Livius Ocella is your child?"

"The future is a monster," Pythia repeated, not answering Sophie-Anne. "It shows many things—good and bad. And many bad things must happen so that good can reign. Many," she paused, "monsters must happen. Appius Livius Ocella," she said, addressing her child, "you have been a useful monster to fate and to the future these many years. Your atrocities have been a price the world had to pay—and my burden to bear."

"Your burden!" Appius yelled out with hate. "You turned me only to fill me with your disdain!"

"You were filled with good blood—my blood! But no blood could cleanse the evil within you." The ancient vampiress sighed. "No blood."

"Evil! What is good or evil to a vampire?" Appius yelled. "Those are human conceptions—weak conceptions!"

Appius flashed toward his maker, but he could not strike her. Still—his fangs were down, and he cut his own lips so that he spilled her blood—as much as he was able.

"Release me from your commands—all of them—and I will go somewhere you will never hear of me again!" he cried out, sounding crazed and desperate.

Pythia ignored him. "Whether you believe in good and evil or not, your blood—my blood—did well in making this one," she said with pride, gesturing toward Eric. "He is blood. My legacy."

"Eric is mine!" Appius yelled.

Still ignoring Appius, Pythia looked at Eric, her eyes a seeming pink glaze.

"I first saw you in a vision not long before fate pushed me to turn your maker. Your life and influence—both before your turning and after it—have swung this world more to the good in ways immeasurable. And—your bonded will also push the world toward the good. It is fate. I am sorry you had to endure your maker. I am sorry about the losses that have occurred over the many nights that Appius has existed. But it is time for you now, young Eric," she said in a gentle voice. "This world is now for you and for your bonded. Are you ready to claim it? To win it?"

Appius, a feral look on his face, seemed to be trying to attack Pythia, but he could not.

The ancient vampiress continued to speak to Eric, who was now transfixed to her words. "I wish there had been another way to arrive at this moment," she said as a red tear dropped down her cheek. "But there was not; there was no other way for your bonded to find out all that she can be and do. And you will both need all that she is in future years. The world will need all that she is in large and small ways," she explained enigmatically. "I wish even more—in this moment—that I could help you. But I cannot. You, too, must face this harsh test, your own burden, blood of my blood—child of my child. The child of my heart," she added affectionately.

"Test?" Eric asked, even as Appius snarled.

"To find peace within, we must all slay our own demons, child," Pythia said softly—with regret.

"I cannot," Eric said, glancing at Appius.

"That is to be seen," Pythia said with a nod. "I have faith in you."

She looked up at Appius, and her countenance changed quickly—became rigid and harsh. "You wonder how your child has, for most of his existence, been able to resist your commands of him."

"Yes! How?" Appius snarled.

"His soul is too light for your darkness to extinguish it," she responded.

"Speak not in riddles, hag!"

"Appius Livius Ocella," Pythia said loudly, her voice like a herald's, "fate and the future once found you a necessary monster; now, it finds that you are no longer necessary. I command you to release your child, Eric Northman, from your hold—to set him free of you and all of your commands!"

"No!" Appius yelped out.

"I challenge you to resist me! I challenge you to prove the strength of your own soul!" Pythia cackled.

Twisting toward Eric as if caught in a hurricane, Appius growled loudly, but within that growl could be heard a snarl of forced words. "Eric Northman, I release you."

For a moment, the room was silent—and still—save for one sound: a sigh from a child, long-abused, but now free from his sadistic maker.

In the next moment, the room was anything but silent—as that child slammed into Appius with all that he was.

All of his pain.

All of his anger.

All of his passion.

All of his zest.

All of his fear.

All of his love.

All.

It shouldn't have been enough. Especially with his injuries, he shouldn't have been strong enough to cause damage to a vampire more than twice his age, for vampires gained power exponentially with age, and Appius was strong enough to squash Eric like a bug.

Or—he should have been.


Sookie tried to keep track of Eric and Appius with her eyes, but she could not. Her ears could perceive snarling and growling—and a sound that seemed like it might be the tearing of flesh.

But she could see nothing but blurs as Appius and Eric battled. Still, her eyes tried to trail her beloved, and she could tell where he and his maker had been as elements of the room—including the remaining people, furnishings, walls, the floor, and even the ceiling—were pushed, destroyed, and/or dented.

Somehow, Desmond Cataliades had made it over to her, and he placed his body over hers as much as he could, even as he pushed her toward the back wall, where Sookie discovered Amelia and Octavia were huddled with a few others, including Chow and a clearly dazed Diantha.

Thalia was the next to find the little group, and she placed herself shoulder to shoulder with Desmond. And then Batanya materialized in front of them. Still, despite the shield of beings around her, Sookie tried to watch.

"What is happening?" she asked with frustration. "I cannot see them?"

"I cannot either," Thalia responded with awe in her voice.

Giving up using her "normal" senses, Sookie shook her head and closed her eyes, simply feeling Eric in their bond. She'd never felt anything more powerful than her bonded in that moment—so single-minded, so driven.

She didn't dare send Eric her love or even strength; she didn't want to distract him.

She briefly wondered if he had become a true fusion of Viking and vampire.

The word "berserker" flew through her mind.

But she immediately discarded that thought. Her bonded was in complete control of himself in that moment, completely serene in his battle.

Determined to emulate her beloved, Sookie calmed her own breathing—focusing on Eric's emotions until she could match them exactly, until she felt that she could be a part of what he was in that moment.

"I am with you," she said softly as warm tears ran down her face in rivers. "I am with you, Eric."


The Ancient Pythoness closed her eyes and focused on the present—a difficult thing for her to do.

In truth, being in the present was almost an impossible thing for her.

But she'd been living for this present—right at this moment—for too long to let it slip away from her.

"I am with you, child of my child," she whispered from the spot where Noelle had hurried her after the fighting began.

"All that is good in my blood—may it have been transferred to you from your maker. All that is strong in my body—may it have found its way into you. All that is true in my visions—may it be your destiny," she spoke almost prayerfully, her eyes now a hazy reddish brown.

They were dripping tears of blood.


Even as he launched himself at Appius again and again, Eric recognized the odds against him. After all, he'd been badly injured. And he was so much younger than his sire.

He was also incapable of the kind of ruthlessness that Appius had turned into his own twisted art form—his hobby.

But Eric had a kind of strength that could be found only in a recently freed creature. He also had a will to defeat the evil that had held him down—in one way or another—every night of his undead life.

In the minutes—seemingly hours—that he'd been fighting with his maker, Eric had pushed aside any pain and fatigue that he felt. He'd ignored all thoughts, except one: he had to destroy Appius.

There was no other option. He had no other aim.

After longing to be free to rid the world of Appius Livius Ocella for a thousand years, Eric was finally able to take his chance.

Still, Appius was older and stronger and—oh—so much faster. However, while the Roman had spent most of his vampire existence in debauchery and the torture of innocents, Eric had spent his in careful study and the building of long-abiding relationships.

Even as he fought tooth, nail, and fang with his maker—desperately seeking any advantage—the Viking felt as if the world itself was inclined to his side. He felt the energy of the room's occupants—those who remained—sending what counted to them as prayers toward him. Especially, he felt a strength in his blood that he realized must be from the Ancient Pythoness herself—a kind of familial blood tie that he'd never discerned before.

But, most of all, he felt empowered—heartened—by his bond with Sookie. She felt as if she were one with him, and he was all the more powerful, knowing that they were together in everything.

She was—she would always be—his reason for fighting. And she was also his reason for seeking peace.

And—then—suddenly, he realized he'd come to a stop on the solid ground. He was no longer being pursued by his maker—no longer pursuing him.

He was standing in the middle of the ballroom, Appius's severed head in his grip.

Eric gasped—in surprise—in victory.

As if Appius really was the devil, his deranged eyes stayed focused on Eric's for several long seconds and his lips were etched with a smirk—as if testing his child's resolve. Impatient for the face of his maker to be gone, Eric brought his hands together with all of his might, crushing Appius's skull, which became dust and sludge in his hands.

"Eric!" came Sookie's voice from the side of the room.

Feeling exhausted of all of his strength and now registering the pain of his maker's death, Eric fell to his hands and knees, even as his eyes locked with his bonded's through his bloody hair. She was trying to limp toward him, clearly having been injured in the leg or foot at some point.

Seeing her struggle, Thalia lifted Sookie into her arms and brought her to Eric's side, though at human pace since she, too, was clearly injured.

"You did it," Sookie sighed as she wrapped herself into Eric's arms. The vampire found that he was just strong enough to hold onto her.

No—he was just strong enough to be held by her.

"It's over," Eric sighed.

Sookie shook her head and looked at her bonded with a glint in her eyes.

"I hate to disagree with the vampire who just defeated a thousands-of-years-old monster, but I beg to differ."

Eric raised his eyebrow in question. "Oh?"

"It's just beginning," she corrected.


A/N: Remember, we have only an Epilogue left. I hope you enjoyed this story! Please leave a comment if you have the time/inclination.