"SHII! SHII WHERE ARE YOU!?"
Roland's eyes never left his son's. His trembling hands reached out to the remains of his son. He only spoke once, a command to Rasmus.
"STAY THERE RASMUS!! YOU STAY THERE!"
"SHII!"
My son my son how can this be my life my love where can she be.
He could not bring himself to touch the skull of his beloved child. He could not breath. He turned out of Lucas' room without a breath in his lungs. With a beat in his heart. The door to his room was open.
please please please please please please please please please pl--
When he saw her body there, torn and mangled on the bed, what little of her blood Kain had not drained staining their sheets crimson, his mind fell into darkness. Not a thought passed through his mind. He was as a baby as he sank to the floor, his hands holding his face. He sat and looked. Behind Shii was the sound of footsteps. The child Rasmus was slowly climbing the stairs.
"Papa! Where is mother? Where is Lucas?"
Roland had no ears to hear Rasmus with. He sat their, deaf and dumb ot the world. Nothing existed but his love, a lamb slaughtered on an altar of innocence. A victim of jealousy, greed and hatred. The most beautiful thing in his earth butchered because he lived.
"Shii! Jesus, hey--" Llars was beside Shii, and froze. The glittering sword he held in his hand fell to the floor. He opened his mouth to speak, and found himself as Roland. Mute. Trapped.
Shii looked at Llars for a brief moment before she looked back to Ronald, the poor man.... No words could describe how she felt about this. And what Kain said, did she... Have some role in this horrible play? Taking a step back from the scene Shii clasped her hands over her mouth as she tried not to cry, or scream from what was happening. Once again, her ever returning tears spilled from her eyes as she clamped them shut, trying to calm herself, but failing as little gasps and whimpers came from her.
My Greatest Sin Greed
Shii looked at Llars for a brief moment before she looked back to Ronald, the poor man.... No words could describe how she felt about this. And what Kain said, did she... Have some role in this horrible play? Taking a step back from the scene Shii clasped her hands over her mouth as she tried not to cry, or scream from what was happening. Once again, her ever returning tears spilled from her eyes as she clamped them shut, trying to calm herself, but failing as little gasps and whimpers came from her.
Llars could not bring himself to speak, but as Shii began to weep he did all that he could do. He folded the woman inside his arms and clutched her to him, shutting his eyes to keep from watching the ghastly image before him. He stroked her hair and held her tight.
Mere feet past them, something was brewing inside Roland. He cradled his head in his hands, rocking against the floor. He opened his mouth and his lips formed words but they were silent. He was beginning to understand what had happened. His wife had been murdered. His son had been murdered. The life that had been given to him was taken away by one man. A creature that was once his friend.
As his entire body shook, something exploded to the surface. Fury unknown to any living thing. Hatred beyond explanation. The man who had preached peace and prosperity was no more. His fingers shuddered from the force with which they gripped his head. As his lungs heaved in a breath of air his brain processed a single, solitary thought. A name.
KAIN
The sound that incinerated the room around him was the sound Shii had heard before. That unimaginable sound of war, howl roar shriek and scream in one. A roar so load that it buckled the walls around him, smashing the door off of its hinges and into the wall. It was beyond deafening. It was without volume for it was without end. The cry would be heard across the world and known as the Call for Dividing.
The beast within him stirred. Such violations of life will not stand, the wolf commanded. Such abominations must be destroyed. I give you my strength.
What was a gradual and painful change for his future kin happened to Roland in a single instant. The spirit of all wolves stirred in his body and tore to the surface. His skin burst away from his body, showering the room with a fine mist of blood. His bones snapped and tore apart to reform something massive and terrible. His howling mouth erupted forward and his teeth thrust from his skull like swords through fleshy paper. He was a creature beyond a Lycan. He was the wolf beast in its purest form. A demon that could only be conceived of in mankind's darkest nightmares, akin only to the monster he was destined to fight.
The Beast was not capable of thought. It had no heart or mind which guided it. It had the scent of The Betrayer. The Beast could smell everything. Every blade of grass and every human and every animal. Every mote of salt that swayed in the ocean breeze. Deserts which he would never see. His senses became omniscient, and it was then that he found The Betrayer. In the mountains, surrounded by darkness.
The Beast threw itself through the wall, tearing through it with no resistance. Its footsteps shook the ground and its endless howling shook the sky. It stopped only to make a final call, one which every ancient beast would remember. The call to arms.
Above them, a dark storm was brewing. One from which the world would never quite recover.
A deafening crack of thunder shook the ground beneath them but as the vision suddenly ended the sounds of thunder continued. It was only when Llars looked through the shattered wall that he realized why.
The cave was collapsing.
Llars' first reaction was to cover Shii's body with his own to shield her from the falling rocks. It was only when he realized that it was the far wall of the cave was collapsing that he refrained from doing so. "Look!" Slowly emerging from the cave wall and out of the cascading rubble was what appeared to be the crest of a mountain. Above them the cave wall vanished, revealing a sky of churning black clouds. Lightning arced across the sky and speared down into the earth. Where the ashen ground once was, the grass and forests swayed violently as the wind went buffeting across the ground.
In the darkness a crack of lightning revealed The Beast, hurtling over the earth in the direction of the now exposed mountain. A second flash of lightning and the vision was gone. Around them the ground still trembled.
"We don't have to watch this... We can go home. We can go home." Llars clung tightly to his ward. He didn't plan on letting go.
"Come on. We can forget about this and leave. We know the story. We know they fight. That's good enough. Don't dig any deeper." Llars said this more to himself than to Shii. He had to have a reason to leave. He couldn't go farther. If he did he knew he would never be the same again.
IT was then that he realized... after all he had seen, he was already changed.
Llars took a step back as Shii pushed him away. He wasn't shocked. In fact he was glad that she did. It meant she was ready. So was he.
"Whatever happens, I'm here alright? Don't break down on me." Slightly ironic words, as he was the one that was such an emotional wreck before. He would have been again if he had seen what Kain did to Roland's family. He knelt down and swept the shimmering ancient blade from the floor. Its design was completely foreign and yet utterly beautiful. The blade shone with a light unseen in the cave's darkness.
He would explain what he saw to her later. They had to catch up with Roland. That wouldn't be easy.
"Get on my back." Llars growled. His chest started to swell, his bones elongating and twisting. He let out a single grunt as his back popped and realigned into the psine of a beast. The surge of muscle split his shirt and pants, leaving the clothing in tatters. Only the Lycan's weapons held fast in their holsters, and his coat.
"Quick. We're running out of time." He didn't know that for sure, but he knew that they were still in this vision. Time would nnot stop for them. It never had.
Llars began sprinting on all fours as soon as Shii was on his shoulders. He was not the largest of Lycans, but of all of them he was the most fit. She felt like little more than a sack of bottles on his back. As the rain came down he roared over the din of the water. "COVER YOUR EYES!" They raced across the distance, crossing hundreds of feet in mere seconds. The mountain grew ever larger before them, and suddenly at the top there was an explosion of flame. Fire arced into the air from the mountain's crest, and in its light the silhouettes of hundreds of darklings could be seen.
It appeared that every single one of their kind had crawled from their filthy dens to partake in this fateful night.
With another flash of lightning Llars saw Roland. Not far before him, The Beast was wading through Darklings to reach the mountain's base. He struck them with might unknown to this world, and they evaporated in clouds of blood as his massive claws decimated their ranks. They flew away from him like rag dolls, shattering one another as they collapsed into piles on the ground. Only their endless chattering of teeth could be heard over the rain.
Llars knew his ancestor would survive the fight. There would be no stopping his ascent of the mountain. What was important was to reach the crest before him. To prepare for the final battle.
Llars sucked in a mighty breath as he howled, an unheard cry to the father of his father and the fathers before him. BE STRONG! It echoed in the gale, then vanished. It was then that Llars' legs coiled tight and sprung, launching him across the expanse of the darklings. They ignored him, ignorant to the imposters from the future.
"HOLD ON!" Was all he had time to growl before the ground rushed back to meet them.
The rain was as real as the darklings, stinging his eyes and tearing at his fur. He fought through the pain and the dread of the unfolding events. They were no longer witnessing history. They were becoming a part of it. As they neared the crest of the mountain Llars shut his eyes away from the ghastly sight.
Bodies of children and women and men were strung up from spears and wooden poles along the trail. Darklings huddled around the corpses, shoving their greedy talons into the stiff flesh of the dead. They ate with great abandon, and with endless hunger. "Don't look, Shii." Llars growled, and forced his body to climb faster. His razor claws stabbed into the stones and the dirt, heaving himself up the ever increasing incline of the mountain. The thunder above them was deafening and for a split second they were plunged into unquenchable darkness. The lightning returned to restore their vision, and the thunder was suddenly drowned out by the sound of The Beast. His thrashing limbs shook the very mountain up which he climbed.
The grim image of the mountain trail was quickly drowned out by what they saw as they came to the mountain crest.
The rain was as real as the darklings, stinging his eyes and tearing at his fur. He fought through the pain and the dread of the unfolding events. They were no longer witnessing history. They were becoming a part of it. As they neared the crest of the mountain Llars shut his eyes away from the ghastly sight.
Bodies of children and women and men were strung up from spears and wooden poles along the trail. Darklings huddled around the corpses, shoving their greedy talons into the stiff flesh of the dead. They ate with great abandon, and with endless hunger. "Don't look, Shii." Llars growled, and forced his body to climb faster. His razor claws stabbed into the stones and the dirt, heaving himself up the ever increasing incline of the mountain. The thunder above them was deafening and for a split second they were plunged into unquenchable darkness. The lightning returned to restore their vision, and the thunder was suddenly drowned out by the sound of The Beast. His thrashing limbs shook the very mountain up which he climbed.
The grim image of the mountain trail was quickly drowned out by what they saw as they came to the mountain crest.
The rail of murder ran up the length of the mountain all the way to its flattened, rain soaked peak. There, atop a shattered boulder which slightly resembled a throne, sat Kain. Around him a ring of Darklings danced before a circle drawn in blood. Within the circle were more of the foul monsters, carrying the writhing and screaming bodies of a handful of villagers. The darklings regarded them curiously before testing their sharp teeth on their heads, severing them from the necks of their hosts. As their blood sprayed into the air the darklings dragged the human bodies in a pattern across the wet earth, tracing in blood the outline of a star. From pyres around the lip of the peak danced great columns of flame, shining light into the vast pit of darkness that was the world. This was no light of purity or guidance, however... it was the fire of ritual.
Llars and Shii had only moments to take in the ghastly sight before them. The Best named Roland leapt clear of the edge of the mountain, landing on the lip of the peak. His weight cracked the ancient stone beneath him, sending boulders bouncing down into the writhing mass of beasts below. His eyes, ears and nose all found Kain at once and he let loose a howl of rage that blew many of the darklings from the top of the mountain. The Betrayer sat and watched The Beast, a fascinated sneer on his face and a look of triumph in his eye.
"You've met my new family, Roland... the family I have taken after you stole my wife for yourself. See how they smile?" The darklings cavorted with one another, mouths so full of teeth that they could only grin their ghastly grins. Their tiny yellow eyes peered sightlessly into the darkness around them.
"They've shown me their ways. The language they speak to dark and wicked Gods. I will show you them tonight. You will witness--" The Beast had lunged the length of the gorey pentagram before Kain could so much as finish his sentence. With wide eyes and hungry smile Kain leapt from his stone throne, snapping the large sword from his back. It was nothing like what it once was. The elegant and beautiful design was now mutated and ashen, conjuring the ghosts of lives long past and radiating the wickedness with which it was wielded. Across the blade was cut the word Sanguine.
The Beast and The Betrayer finally faced one another on the field of their final conflict. Roland's hideous and malformed body shuddered with rage, so barely contained that it evaporated the rain and wetness around him. His eyes glowed brighter than the flames of the mountain's fires. It made Kain grin all the wider.
"You want to end me, filthy dog... so end me.'
It was all the invitation that The Beast needed. He raised his massive claws into the sky and brought them howling towards The Betrayer as Kain's blade rose to meet them. As their strikes connected the very earth below which they fought gave way as a large crag split down the middle of the darklings' infernal design. They chattered excitedly, clicking their claws against their teeth.
With every blow that was made the mountain shook, showering the land below with rocks and ash and mud. Fire, not sparks, burst apart from the force of their connecting. For every wound which was given, another was received. The Beast tore open The Betrayer's armor, tearing open the flesh of his chest and splattering his blood across the shattered pentagram. In that moment Kain's blade sliced through the mighty flank of The Beast, sending the creatures blood down upon his own. As the liquids laced within one another the mountain shook as any volcano would, lines of blood becoming lines of fire bursting out of the circle.
The ritual was complete. The blood of man and monster were intertwined both innocent and guilty. The rage of The Beast and the hate of The Betrayer were as one and indescribable forces exploded from the abyss running into the mountain. Spirits, ghosts and denizens of a world that until this day was unknown flooded into this world, demons howling in triumph as they flew into the air. Kain stumbled at the sound and the fury of his summons, shaken by an event of such great power. This was not what he had intended, not at all.
Suddenly the vision split into two. The world began to slip out of focus, become two separate images of very similar events. Before them was the mountain, Kain and Roland fighting as a massive beast both dog and demon loped from the Gate of Hell. At the same time there was the darkness of reality, the faint blue light of the moss and the smell of ash in the cave... and from that ancient gateway familiar flames began to show. Within this mad hallucination of two worlds on thing was certain: In both the Gate was open.
It was at this moment that time ceased to be. Past and present were suddenly intertwined and as the world paused for a single agonizing second Kain turned to look at the woman on Llars' back. He was falling backwards against the focused might of The Beast, and while his descent was slowed to a crawl his voice spoke calm and commanding.
"Kill this traitor and the city is yours. Burn and butcher to your liking, Earth Demon... Queen of the Damned."
It was then that Shii had a terrible revelation. The intimately familiar beast that burst forth from the Gate was her. She watched as she leapt onto The Beast, tearing into his back and ripping into his neck with her teeth. She alone was no match for him... but it was her meddling in this battle of fate which would kill Roland of Ur. Llars watched in disbelief as Roland stumbled backwards, his fearsome claws tearing at the Devil on his back. In the single moment Kain was lunging forward, sword drawn back with its point seeking its target. The blade pierced Roland's heart and ended him, while Demon known as Shinkirou howled in triumph from the fallen creature's shoulders, his lifeblood dripping from her fangs.
These phantoms of the past were consumed by the fires of the present as the ancient mountain split asunder. The once dormant Gate to Hell spewed columns of ash and fire and brimstone as Samael's infernal children crawled from that molten womb. The sky was dark with smoke and the stench of burning flesh. From the gate came the screams of millions, and the whispers of one dark lord.
DARKNESS WILL PREVAIL....
Llars did what he could only do. He ran. Ran with the slayer of his ancestor clinging tightly to his shoulders, carrying with him the burden of Rasmus, Roland, Lexi and all. He ran so hard that his bones splintered from the effort, until he was racing back through the tunnel from which they had first arrived. Through the garden. Past the tunnels. He collapsed before his Lycan brethren within their den, and as they rushed to his side Rasmus commanded his pack.
"Seal the den. No creature shall enter this place be they living dead or demon." His ancient eyes looked down upon Shii as he pointed towards the back tunnels which lead to the old mines, through which she might make her escape. "Stay or go, but make your choice now. There will be no turning back."
Hell had come to Earth.
