36(S3E10)-The will to live

36

(Season 3, Episode 10)

The Will to Live

The Horseman of War did not appear as the weeping widow to everyone.  In the second after War had ripped out of him, before he lost consciousness, he saw himself standing above his friend.

Kahn, who had just reached the clearing, stared in lost amazement as she saw her dead father standing over Scott.

To fight the Horseman of War was to fight your own fear.

The Horseman turned and walked into the forest to unite with the other two.  There was only one horseman left to go.  Time was growing short on the planet Earth.  Its only threat was Zachariah, but now killing him would not be enough.

Things had gotten bad.

*****

10 Years after the instant…

The small fire was getting low as the group's final break before the spiral was coming to an end.  The Killer sat on a log with a whetstone, calmly sharpening his blade in preparation for the final run. Everything was in place.  All that was left was the execution.

The Big Green snored loudly against a log.  The witch filed her nails, as she sat Indian-style to the left of the fire as nonchalantly as if she faced Wyverns and ninja armies every day.  Dire Wolf sat across from The Killer.  The Killer had not failed to notice his eyes upon him.

"You are not being honest."  Dire wolf grumbled, finally speaking.  "I am on to you."

The Killer stopped sharpening.  "I will honor our agreement."

Dire Wolf waved a big hand.  "Not that, you will honor our agreement.  It is who you are, but you are not being honest about everything."

The Killer shook his head.  "I fail to understand you."

Dire Wolf grinned.  "You strut around and speak low, you bathe in blood in order to prove you are one of us... one of the outcasts, the outlaws.  You cannot hide your true nature.  You have another goal, one that you believe will redeem all this violence... otherwise, you would not be working with us."

The Killer did not respond.  He was in a dangerous spot.  If he said the wrong thing at this point, everything would fall apart as his gang of blood-thirsty, hyper, powerful, magic criminals turned on him.  He was good, but not that good.  And even if he managed to win, he would be easy pickings for the ninjas.

Dire Wolf watched him as if looking for weakness.  "I should warn you... There is no redemption.  Not for what we have done and not for what we are going to do.  Possibly freedom for our people, but we will always be looked upon as monsters."

The Killer felt the danger pass.  Dire Wolf had not seen the insecurity within him, so he survived another day.  Just one more day.  "Do not presume to know me."

Dire Wolf grinned.  "Fair enough.  We will all burn our own bridges."

Redemption was not an option for The Killer.  When he had seen the path ahead of him, he knew it would be bathed in blood.  He had resigned himself to the atrocities that he would have to commit in order to accomplish his goals.  The redemption at the end would be absolute...

...it had to be.

 

****

12 Hours before the Instant…

Zachariah had awoken with a different goal.

Somewhere in the madness that had possessed him, Scott's words had gotten in and he had decided to live, or at least to try.  To do that, he needed information.

Bevan and Mel had arrived a couple of minutes after the ninjas.  Scott was being attended to by the ninjas who were trying to heal him.  Bevan seemed to eye Zachariah as he came out of the forest, suspicious of the man after the outburst.

Zachariah raised his hands.  "I'm good, now.  War escaped."

Mel shook his head.  "Then time is short, indeed."

"Why?"  Zachariah asked.

"I'm sure you noticed that the characteristics of each of the Horsemen to escape your soul has manifested in you each time.  For death to free himself, you have to die."  Mel explained.  "They will gather and then attack.  There will be no force on the planet that will stop them."

Zachariah nodded.  "Awesome, seems like that fits right in with the day we are having."

"We have to keep moving.  We are close to the chamber of time."  Kahn said, preparing her men to move.

"Not a chance.”  Zachariah said, and everybody seemed to collectively sigh at what seemed like Zachariah's suicidal tendencies.

Zachariah shook his head.  "No, not that.  I'm going to try to stay alive, but to do that, we need to understand the situation.  Mel, you have to tell me everything you know about this; The Horsemen, the Dahaka, the Time Mages, the chamber, everything."

Mel seemed to eye him, not sure if Zachariah was telling the truth or not at first.  Zachariah's look seemed to rejuvenate his faith.  "Alright..."

"Thousands, possibly millions of years ago, the human race faced extinction from the Horsemen.  There is much speculation as to where they came from, whether they were off-shoots of the life stream itself or some other demon, but their power was immeasurable.  Their only goal seemed to be the destruction of all life on the planet."  Mel began the story.  "The history is not well kept from all those years ago, but it is said the Time Mages, powerful sorcerers who could harness the power of time itself, found a way to trap and weaken the Horsemen."

"How?"  Zachariah asked, wanting more information.

Mel shook his head.  "I don't know.  They cast some kind of spell inside the chamber of time after baiting the Horsemen in.  The first Rognaithe was there.  He sacrificed his soul to have the Horseman attached to it.  He then killed himself, his soul returning to the life stream, the Horseman dragged along.  The Time Mages then put into effect the Dahaka, trapping themselves inside the chamber to summon the beast that would go forth if the future Rognaithe's ever reached twenty-eight."

"So the druids started feeding us to the Wyvern to keep even that from happening?" Zachariah asked.

Mel nodded.  "Yes."

Zachariah seemed to consider.  "That does not make sense."

Mel looked confused.  "What do you mean?"

"If the Dahaka is strong enough to destroy the Horsemen, why not just summon it in the first place and have it go after the Horsemen?  Why bother with the trap and the human soul thing?"  Zachariah questioned.

Mel shrugged.  "I'm not sure."

An unearthly howl sounded in the distance.  The Horsemen had found each other.  Kahn shook her head.  "We need to move, they will be coming."

The group pulled together and moved, but as Zachariah ran he could not help but turn over the holes in his mind.  He was missing something, a fact that might keep him alive if he could figure it out in time.

****

10 years after the instant…

Shinji and Kyo watched the four from a tree a couple of yards away.

Shinji shrugged and spoke in Japanese to his friend.  "I don't get it.  Why don't we just get in there and kill them now?"

Kyo shook his head.  "Kahn said we hold."

Shinji frowned under his mask.  "Look, I have stuff to do.  We should just off these four and head back."

"You going to disobey Kahn?  Good luck with that shit."  Kyo said, then turned.  "What the hell do you have going on, anyway?"

"House of Cards, season three."  Shinji answered nonchalantly.

"Oh my God, so good."  Kyo responded.  "She totally leaves him!"

Shinji took a deep sigh.  "Spoilers, man."

"Silence."  Kahn's voice from behind them had the desired effect.  "Tomorrow, they face Zersch.  We will let them and should they be victorious, that's when we will strike."

The stage is set for the big finale as The Killer has to face the Wyvern and an army of ninjas, while Zachariah struggles to get to the Chamber of Time before the Horsemen kill him or the Dahaka erases him!

NEXT TIME….

Stranger things-Zachariah’s Death

TO BE CONTINUED…

35(S3E9)- Z v S

35

(Season 3, Episode 9)

Z v S

There is a thin line between friends and enemies.  It only takes a small twist of someone's emotions, a slight shift in outlook and something beautiful can turn ugly.  While, as a friendship ages and changes over years and decades, this becomes more and more true because the friends have more and more information about each other, their situations and their mistakes.  No one can really hurt you like a friend can.

Scott and Zachariah were two friends standing on the brink of the abyss known as hatred.  They stood in a clearing of grey dust and dark, dead trees that seemed to mimic the evil of it all, though long dead.

"You are your stupid dreams."  Zachariah began to snare as he circled.  "Constantly trying to convince me we are more than just a couple of assholes...  It's pathetic."

Scott's face was hard and ferocious.  "It's better than just quitting, giving up and then whining about it later."

"Self-righteous bastard!"  Zachariah yelled and charged.

"Self-centered dirt bag!"  Scott yelled back and moved.

They collided a second later, both of them launching punches which passed each other’s hands by mere centimeters, before connecting with each other’s faces, seemingly at the same time.  They both staggered, but the seasoned father and martial artist was more adept at taking blows and shook off the punch first, pressing his advantage.  He moved in and grabbed the back of Zachariah's head, bringing it downward into his raising knee.

Zachariah took the blow and grunted.  Scott tried to maintain the grapple and bring his other knee up but Zachariah hook-punched the inside of Scott's left thigh with a knuckle extended.  Scott's leg cramped and he yowled slightly.  Zachariah brought the back of his head straight up into the underside of Scott's chin.

Scott's teeth rattled and he saw stars as he stumbled.  He was still trying to figure out how Zachariah had hit him when Zachariah rushed forward, leaping into the air with a skill he had never shown before.   He planted a double dropkick to Scott's chest, sending him backward through the air, again into the dust.

Scott was still coughing out dust when he saw Zachariah had kicked-up to his feet.  Scott shook his head, Zachariah had never been a fighter.  The guy could hold his own, but technique like this was beyond his skill.  Yet, here he was, pulling out high level moves.

Zachariah's face turned to a wicked grin as he saw the confusion in Scott's face.  "What?  Did you think you were just going to steam roll me with all that training?  Big surprise, you think you are better than everybody."

Scott brought himself to his feet, the pain and Zachariah's aggression had broken down his filters.  "You know what?  Maybe I think I'm better because I am.  You have been a dishwasher for ten years and you spent five of those in a relationship with someone else's girl."

Zachariah's smile faded and the anger returned.  Scott grinned, this time without joy.  "Sorry, buddy.  Facts are facts."

Zachariah screamed and charged, this time, Scott was ready.  Zachariah threw a hard and fast high-hooking punch at Scott's head.  Scott ducked it and landed three quick, hooking punches to Zachariah's exposed right side ribs.  Zachariah made a groan as the air was forced out of his lungs.  The blows forced Zachariah off balance and he stepped, cock-eyed to the left, exposing his back.

Scott could have finished it right there with a hard kick to the base of Zachariah's spine but that would have ended more than the fight.  Though filled with anger, Scott was not willing to resort to such a final solution.  Instead, he stepped in and roundhouse-kicked Zachariah to the left temple.

The blow sent him to the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust.  "You caught me by surprise Zach, true.  But I have not even begun to kick your ass."

Zachariah roared and scrambled to his feet.  Scott only had a second to notice that, between the knee and the kick, no real damage had been done to his face.  Scott had not pulled his moves. Logic seemed to cut through the testosterone and rage.  Something wasn't right here.

"Dude, what the hell is going on?"  He asked, trying to calm the situation.

"This!" Zachariah was not hearing it and brought his right-hook into the side of Scott's head.  The blow caught him hard and Scott's knees buckled.  He had no time to get his hands up when the left struck him in the same manner.  He felt a tooth come loose and saw it go skipping into the dirt as he crashed to the earth.

"You are a quitter."  Zachariah said as he stepped toward Scott, who desperately tried to get his bearings.  "You checked out of life and got yourself a wife and a kid and a nine to five job so that you no longer had to think."

Zachariah grabbed Scott's throat and lifted him, with one hand, into the air with a strength that he had never had before.  "You killed yourself too... You just took the scenic route."

Scott gurgled for air as his oldest and best friend squeezed the life out of him.  He felt his wind pipe constricting and, for a second, he could swear he could taste the color blue.  He closed his eyes and felt his will to live begin to fade.

Scott found himself in front of a white, formless light floating there.  Slowly, a figure materialized out of the void.  It was his son, three years old with curly blonde hair and blue eyes.

The kid looked down at Scott and then frowned.  "Really?  You can't even picture him at twenty?  I have to come to you as a fucking three-year-old?"

Scott muttered the name of his son, confused.  The child shook his head.  "No, not really.  I'm actually a physical representation of the process of life.  I just appear as your son because, in a weird way, you worship him."

"What is going on?"  Scott asked the being.

"Well, you are about to have your throat crushed by your best friend."  The child explained.  "Also, side-note; really?  That guy?  Of all the people you could have made your best friend, you picked him?"

The words were strange coming out of his son, so articulately, since his boy had barley began to understand how to poop on a toilet.  "He can be... difficult sometimes."

The kid raised his eyebrows.  "Difficult?  He is currently choking you to death."

Scott shrugged.  He had no argument there. "So, is that it?  Am I dead?"

The entity shook his small head, an act meant to be serious, but failed thanks to the golden curls.  "No, you have a choice.  You can die here or fight for your family.  But, if you do fight, you will lose your friend.  Not that I see much of a downside there."

Scott frowned.  "No... There has to be a way to do both."

The entity narrowed his eyes at Scott.  "Do you understand how a choice works?  It’s one or the other."

Scott shook his head.  "I refuse to believe that.  I refuse to quit on him."

The child shook his head.  "When are you going to grow up and realize that you can't have your cake and eat it, too."

"Never," Scott said.  "I'm going to keep my family and I'm going to save Zachariah, or I will have neither.  I like cake too much."

The entity looked skeptical.  "You can't fight fate."

Scott grinned.  "Watch me."

By sheer will, Scott brought himself back into the world.  Pain was everywhere.  His head felt like it was going to pop and his lungs ached for oxygen.  He brought up his hands, putting them together in one giant fist and brought them down on the crux of Zachariah's elbow.  The move forced the arm to fold and released Scott from the death grip.

Scott threw off a leg, kicking Zachariah in center mass, just to get some distance.  He rubbed his throat and spoke with a groggy voice.  "Where are you, Zach?"

Zachariah was advancing but stopped, confused by the phrase.  "What?"

Scott stood.  "Where is my best friend?  The guy who hates authority?"

Zachariah scowled and charged forward with another fast-sweeping punch.  Scott, however, was only focusing on dodging now and slid out of the way.  "The Zachariah who dropped out of high school because he didn't like people telling him what to do?"

Zachariah took another swing but Scott slid past it again.  "The guy who walked away from his parents because they thought they knew better about his life than he did?"

"Shut up!" Zachariah said and  threw another barrage at Scott, but Scott was convinced the blows were coming slower.

"The guy who knew that figuring it out on his own, better or worse was the way he had to go."  Scott continued.  "I want to know where he is, because that guy would never let whatever is in you, making you do this, control him.  That guy does not let this world tell him what to do.  He does not let this world tell him he is better off dead.  Zachariah makes his own decisions!"

Zachariah missed again but his punches had slowed, as if the need to attack was subsiding inside of him.

Scott pushed the advantage, stepping in and open-palm slapping Zachariah across his face, before grabbing his shirt and pulling him close.  "That Zachariah tries to find a way to prove everyone wrong and live."

Scott could see Zach in his eyes, replacing the hate.  The moment was broken by a scream and an explosion.  Zachariah and Scott were thrown in opposite directions.  Zachariah landed, unconscious. Scott pulled himself to his elbows and saw the pale woman with tears of blood.  She turned to him and stepped forward, power coursing through her.

She bent over, as if sizing up Scott, and smiled.  "You are going to be interesting."

The Horseman of War stood and then walked calmly into the forest.  Scott pulled himself together and scrambled to Zachariah.  He grabbed him, pulling him up slightly, trying to wake him.  "Zach?!  Are you okay?!"

Zachariah groaned.  "No... You slapped me."

The friendship has survived this fight but can they now find a way to save Zachariah and what seems to be the whole of time and space?!

Find out on the next episode!

Stranger Things; Zachariah's death

33(S3E8)-Personal

34

(Season 3, Episode 8)

Personal

Bevan had been born the youngest in druid family royalty.  His father had been on the council of three since his father had passed the honor onto him.  Seamus, his eldest brother, was the next in line for that honor and had become a powerful druid warrior.  Cathleen, the middle child, had become an accomplished swords woman in addition to her magic abilities.  She had been chosen to escort the Rognaithe to Zersch.

Bevan had summarily not been honored in any such way, mostly due to the fact that, for some reason, he could not type into the magic Celtic tattoos.  On Bevan, they were nothing more than body art.  The suspicion was that somewhere along the way, Bevan’s father had a fling with a normal, and that Bevan was the offspring of the bastard union.  These facts contributed to Bevan being an outsider within the walls of Avalon and so, on his eighteenth birthday, he packed up his things and left.

Bevan had wandered through the strange and wonderful world of the humans for years.  He found it truly splendid and soon he was happy away from the judgments of Avalon.

It did not last.

One day, Mel appeared on his doorstep with a seemingly endless amount of bad news.  His sister was killed during her Rognaithe mission, then his father was killed by a side stepping Rognaithe a year ago and his brother was seriously wounded during the same instance.  The Druids were directionless and leaderless and it was Bevan’s time.

Although Bevan had no interest in his time, he was unable to quiet the do-gooder voices in his head and after Mel crafted the Rune gun for him, allowing him to conduct the Rune magic into the weapon, how could he refuse?

Of course now, being in a subterranean dead forest watching a ninja get his face bitten off by the one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Famine, he had to question his choices.  He had volunteered for this rather dangerous mission because he felt compelled to meet in person, the man who had brought so much death and destruction upon his family.

He had, of course, been expecting more.  Zachariah was not the crafty and dangerous human that his reputation made him out to be, but instead, a whining, silly, drunken idiot.  Bevan was one of the few in the party agreeing with the man’s suicidal wonderments.  Why were we trying to save this guy?

As the horsemen, a gaunt bone-white specter that Bevan could only describe as a creature made of sentient  teeth, tossed the faceless Ninja away and turned towards Bevan. The druid realized that now might not be the best time for introspection.

He raised the long wooden gun and one of his tattoo’s began to glow as he simultaneously called upon the power of the tattoo and aimed down the sight at the creature.  It squealed, as if sensing the impending attack, and charged, looking to get to its assailant before the attack could come.

Bevan had only a second to consider if he had used the correct Rune or not, centered the gun and pulled the trigger.  The gun leapt in his hand and barked as the power of the magic ink imbedded in Bevan’s skin transferred its power into the bullet leaving the chamber in a split second.  The bullet struck true and the visage of evil was kicked back a few feet.  It screamed again in rage, looking to resume its attack when ice began to grow from the wound as if the air around the beast began to flash-freeze.

Famine screamed, this time out of hatful desperation, as it struggled against the growing ice.  The  horseman was powerless to stop the hyperactive cancer like cold and within the next couple of seconds, the ice had consumed it.  It stood there like a frozen statue of someone’s worst nightmare made real.

The remaining ninja warrior stepped up to shatter the ice with his sword but Bevan called out to stop him.

The ninja held and turned, confused.  Bevan explained, “That will only break the ice.  That thing is too strong to be killed like that or held like that for very long.  I would leave him.”

The ninja was clearly unhappy to leave the beast, but he relented and moved back toward his master.

Bevan took a deep breath as he saw that Mel had come to and raised the shield again.  Although, he could tell by the look on his face that he was dragging, he would be able to keep this up forever and then the Dahaka would come and this would be all for not.

"Mother fucker!"  The anger filled yell from Zachariah called all attention back to him as he all but exploded to his feet.

"This shit is fucking ridiculous!"  He began as his once tired and fatigued muscles now tightened and flexed under his white tee.  "I have had enough of this cunt-punching, bullshit!  Every time you mother fuckers show up, this damn crap has to happen.  None of you could ever be fucking bothered to come over and have some god damn tea, or say hello.  It’s always life –threatening, world-ending, God-fucking shit!"

The group stared for a second in disbelief as Zachariah. now out of breath from his rant, began to huff and puff after the loud and long rant.  Bevan broke the silence.  "I can't believe I'm about to say this... but maybe, tone down the language."

"Fuck you, Haggis!"  Zachariah replied, as he pointed at the Celtic warrior.

Bevan gave him a confused look.  "Did you just call me Haggis?  I'm not sure how to respond to that."

"How about you put that stupid looking metaphor for your dick," Zachariah pointed at his gun, "up your ass and do everyone a favor."

Bevan's confusion turned to anger.  "How about I put it in your-"

Mel's hand grabbed the Druid's wrist to cut him off.  "It's the horseman.  They are coming faster and the next one is war."

Bevan now understood.  Zachariah had gotten extremely itchy before the horsemen of Plague had appeared.  Then, before this last demon, he had become weak and hungry.  Now, the obvious rage coursing through his body was the effect of the third horseman,  War.

"You don't know me, Tiny Tim!"  Zachariah snorted at the little mage before continuing.  "You know what?  None of this would have happened if you bastards had given me thirty more minutes to finish the job I set out to do."

Bevan frowned, unable to let that go.  "Your buddy was the one that saved you, though I can't figure out why.  We came after."

Zachariah seemed to realize something in his anger filled stupor.  "You're right, Bagpipes…  That mother-fucker!"

With that, Zachariah turned in the direction in which Scott had led the Dahaka away and took off sprinting.  "Scott!"  He yelled as he ran.  "Scott, you son of a bitch.  I am coming to get you!"

"Follow him!"  Mel yelled, running after him trying to keep up.  "If he gets outside my spell it will all be for nothing!"

Kahn barked something in Japanese and her and her two remaining ninja followers vanished into thin air.  Bevan swore under his breath and then sprinted after him as well, catching up to Mel in only a few strides.

"Don't take this the wrong way, buddy."  Bevan yelled to Mel.

Mel frowned back.  "Don't you do it!"

Bevan had no choice.  Mel's pride paled in comparison to the mission at hand, and with a mild effort and a stutter step, Bevan scooped up the dwarf, mage and placed him on his shoulders.

Mel's face dropped.  "How embarrassing."

****

Zachariah was lost.

The rage had so completely filled him, he could only see his target and only the negatives.  How dare Scott?  The perfect, never-wrong Scott.  How dare he take Zachariah's death away from him?  He had no right, after starting a family and leaving Zachariah on his own.  Their entire friendship had been a sham, a joke, a perpetual before and after picture.

Zachariah had always been the before.

Scott had been stronger, smarter and more successful.  Zachariah had struggled just to keep up, spending his entire life just pretending to know what he was doing while Scott put forth the absolute smallest amount of effort and became a master at anything and everything.

Now, the selfish bastard had robbed from Zachariah the only thing he had left that he could make his own.  Suicide.

Zachariah had enough.  He was going to make Scott pay.  He was going to make everyone pay for this stupid situation and this ridiculous life he had lived.

"Scott!"  He screamed Scott's name again and again.

"Zach?"  He heard Scott yell back, in confusion.

Zachariah slid to a stop, his mouth opening in a sadistically toothy grin, waiting for Scott to call out again.

"Zach?"  Scott yelled again, sounding lost.

Zachariah charged into the direction of the yell.  A second later, he broke through the dead trees into the small clearing where his befuddled friend stood confused.

Zachariah did not hesitate.  He charged, full-speed, toward his long-time compatriot.  "Scott, it's time to pay!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!"  Scott asked, finding himself back-peddling, as his friend charged forward.

Zachariah let his fists do the talking.  This time, his first blow was an uppercut to Scott's mid-section.  Scott was not expecting his best friend and the man he was trying to save, to attack him, so he took the blow to his stomach.

Scott had sparred with his friend when they were younger men and Zachariah had never punched as hard.  The blow was like a shotgun going off in his abdomen.  Scott staggered and lost his footing from the blow, rolling backward through the grey dirt.  He came to a stop on his hands and knees, coughing and trying to catch his breath.  "What the fuck are you doing?"

Zachariah laughed loudly.  "You just think you are so God damned perfect, don't you?"

"What?!"  Scott looked up, even more confused than before.

"You, with your fucking martial arts and your stupid kid and your dumb wife who I have to hear about all the damn time.  Okay, I get it, you’re happy.  Good for fucking you.  Then, you have the fucking balls to show up and try to save me?!  You son of a bitch, you had no right!"  Zachariah finished his rant and charged.

 

Had Scott been with the group, he would have had the benefit of understanding that Zachariah's rage was the product of the horsemen inside him.  Scott did not get this information because he was too busy risking his life and family, leading the time eating monster away from the very friend that attacked him and spewed words of hate about Scott's loves.

Scott snapped.  He had been through enough and heard enough whining.  As Zachariah charged, Scott came up in a fluid motion, planting his left foot and spinning into a kick to Zachariah's chest.  The blow caught Zachariah in the solar-plexus and launched him backward into the air as if Zachariah had been propelled by a rocket.

Zachariah hit the ground and slid backward.  It was his turn to cough.  Scott stood and a darkness not born of any creature came over him.  "You know what?  Maybe I did make a mistake in saving you... allow me to rectify it."

Zachariah roared and clawed desperately back to his feet and into a charge as the two best friends met for the first time as enemies.

Scott just dropped the mic!  The fight none of you have been waiting for is here.  Will Scott come to his senses before putting Zachariah down?  Will Zachariah give in to the rage filled Horsemen inside him and kill his friend?

 

Find out next time...

 

Stranger Things; Zachariah's Death.

 

TO BE CONTINUED....

 



33(S3E7)-Run

33

(Season 3, Episode 7)

Run

A lot of things should have been going through Zachariah’s mind as they descended the ancient staircase to the garden of Zersch.  Something along the lines of why was he going along with this, probably should have been one of those things.  After all, he was trying to kill himself only a couple of hours ago.  What had changed since then that would make him want to stay alive?  If he had been asking himself these questions, this would have been the point where he looked at his oldest and best friend walking ahead of him into the black unknown below, willing to battle demons ninjas and apocalyptic horsemen to save him.  He would wonder, if a guy like that wanted to work so hard to keep him alive, was there something worth saving?  These were the questions he should have been thinking.

They would have been his thoughts, by all means, if he was not so hungry.  Since they had begun their descent, a hunger had started to build inside him.  It had spread like a wildfire until it completely possessed him.  All he could think about was eating.  It was the only thing that occupied his mind, which was why, when he looked at his friend, he did not have the introspective thoughts he should have been having but instead, found himself asking if people really tasted like chicken.

“Holy shit…”  Scott muttered it as they came out of the staircase into what seemed like an endlessly huge cave.  A dead forest stretched out in front of him, thousands of tightly knit dead and leafless trees. A dim light stretched over the impossibly massive cave.  The light source was unknown, but it created shadows that played through the woods.  The cold and emptiness of the place hit them all like a wave and it was obvious that the only thing that lived here anymore were the shadows.

“What happened here?”  Scott found himself asking, knowing this was not supposed to be like this.

“It was once a garden, a place where magic fed the life.  The magic came from a wyvern called Zersch.” Mel explained as simply as he could.  “Zersch is dead… without him the place has faded and will eventually cease to exist.”

“A wyvern?”  Scott was not sure why he was surprised at this point, “What happened to him?”

Kahn jerked her head toward Zachariah.  Scott’s eyebrows rose.  “You killed a wyvern?!”

He turned and his curiosity was gone once he saw the state of his friend.  Zachariah had somehow lost fifty pounds on the walk down the stairs.  Scott could see his rib cage through his tee-shirt.  His color had drained out of him and he was now an empty pale white.  Sweat beaded on his forehead and a trickle of foam fell from his mouth.

“Zachariah?” He asked concerned.

Zachariah’s lost eyes seemed to notice Scott now. “Hungry…  HUNGRY!”

Zachariah leapt through the air like a possessed demon.  Scott’s training clicked on.  Instinctively, he caught both of Zachariah’s incoming hands and fell to his back.  Scott put his foot to Zachariah’s abdomen as he did and in one fluid motion, flipped Zachariah over him as he rolled to his back.

Zachariah soared through the air and crashed into the back of Mel who was unaware of the scrap.  The small druid was thrown forward into a tree, cracking his head on the trunk.  Mel dropped to the ground, motionless.  Zachariah rolled to his feet then began to roll around on the ground, screaming.

“Jibun o junbi shimasu.”  Kahn spoke the Japanese and Scott did not have to speak the language to know it was an order.  The four ninjas who had accompanied them on the trip tensed and got into fighting stances, hands to their blades.

“What the hell is happening to him?!”  Scott asked as arms began to pull themselves out of Zachariah’s back.  Zachariah screamed.

Kahn turned toward Scott.  “The second horseman is coming.  Plague.”

Scott was ready to prepare for another otherworldly encounter when a screech cut the air, not from Zachariah but from somewhere behind him up the stairs.  The screech conveyed a hunter’s excitement as he had finally found his prey.  Scott’s brain flicked back to the Dahaka and the shield that Mel maintained to keep it at bay.

Scott pointed at Mel who was unconscious on the ground.  “Does he need to be awake to keep that Dahaka shield up?”

Kahn’s face dropped.  “Kuso ttare.”

Scott again did not feel he needed to know the language to know they were in deep-

The Horseman pulled itself free from Zachariah.  It was the visage of someone who had starved to death, skin on bones, its eyes were white and pupil-less and it had long, thin, wispy, almost clear, hair on its head.  The only thing that looked healthy on the creature was its rows of dagger-like teeth.

Zachariah passed out again and dropped to the ground next to Mel.  The Dahaka’s screech sounded again, this time much closer and Scott could swear he was watching Kahn’s brain calculate in her head. She had seconds.  Finally, she stared acting.

She spoke Japanese at such a rapid pace, it was too fast for Scott to follow.  Her ninjas did not have the same problem.  Three of them leapt into combat, drawing their blades and engaging the Horseman who screamed, welcoming the attack.  The other two ninjas leapt over to Zachariah and Mel and with a puff of smoke, they vanished and a dead tree appeared in their place.

Kahn made a series of hand gestures, then tossed something at Scott’s feet and a burst of smoke made Scott cough.  “What the hell?!”

He fanned the smoke away and looked at Kahn, confused.  “You need to run.”

Scott was even more confused.  “What?!”

“I’m sorry.”  Kahn said, unconvincingly.  “It is going to think you are Zachariah when it gets here.”

 Scott’s eyes went wide.  “The fuck it is!”

Scott heard the screech again.  Kahn snarled.  “Run!”

Scott knew he had no more time to figure this out.  He turned and bolted, sprinting into the forest.  The dead wood clawed at his face and arms as he smashed through it with the finesse of a wild bull.  He felt it behind him, tearing through the trees after him.

The Dahaka; a creature that erased you from time.  Now that it thought Scott was Zachariah, would it take him instead if it caught him?  Would he take Zachariah’s place in oblivion?  If so, no one would ever know his sacrifice.  No one would know he had ever been.

Scott turned, only for a second, to try and gauge how well he was doing and he saw it.  It was indescribable, like looking at pure force.  It moved like an animal with the intention of a person.  It was a phantom, a shadow of a universe that was never going to happen.  The fear it caused in Scott was unlike anything he had ever felt in his life.  No boogey man or monster under the bed could equal the pure absence of existence that chased him.

Scott’s backwards glance cost him and he failed to see the drop-off in front of him. He blew past the edge like some kind of cartoon character and, for a second, he hoped that if he did not look down,  somehow gravity would forget him.

Gravity forgets no one.  Scott fell at least twenty feet, crashing into the trees again before hitting the ground and rolling through the loose dirt.  His body ached but something inside him kept screaming at him to move.  By the time he listened, he pulled himself up, face to face with the creature.

He froze, as if coming face to face with a jungle cat, and stared into the void of the force of reality.  The creature looked clear, but somehow black at the same time.  At first, it looked like a four-legged jungle cat-like creature then it looked almost humanoid at the same time.

Scott took a deep breath, remembering his wife for what he knew would be the last time.  He remembered his son… would he even be born?

“I’m so sorry.”  Scott said to the air, hoping that somewhere, somehow, his family would know he was.

The Dahaka screeched and moved.

****

Kahn heard the screech and knew she was out of time.  She had healed Mel’s head wound while the ninjas had been torn to shreds by the Horseman and Scott had lead the creature away, but the jig was up.  The screech meant it had caught Scott and was coming back.  The only way to finish the mission was to wake Mel and get his spell back up.  She shook him furiously but he refused to come-to.

The screech sounded again, closer this time and Kahn finally grabbed Mel with one hand, pulling his head up and with one large wind up, the other hand slapped him violently.  She did this while yelling, “Mewosamasu anata no chīsana rokudenashi!”

Mel snapped awake.  “God Damn!  I speak Japanese and that was hate speech!”

The screech sound again only a few feet away, “Mel!”

Mel quickly muttered a series of Latin words and then a light flashed from his hand.

****

Scott dropped to his hands and knees and vomited.

The creature had screeched and moved through him before racing off, leaving him intact.  It had realized he was not Zachariah and lost interest in Scott.  Oblivion had passed him over.  His body began to relax slightly as he finished spilling the contents of his stomach onto the ground.

His resolve was shaken.  He had a family; a son; a wife.  The weight of the insanity he was dealing with dropped onto his shoulders like an anvil, he had been ignoring it, focusing on helping his friend but he could not put it off any longer.  He was in over his head.

Scott hated himself for his next thought, but he could not help it.

‘Is Zach really worth this?’

When Scott’s resolve fails, you know the heroes are in real trouble.  Narrowly avoiding the Dahaka again, the group has taken heavy losses and a second of the Horsemen is free.  Can they make it to the Chamber of Time in time, or is the only way to save the world through Zachariah’s death?  And what’s going on with those future guys?

FIND OUT NEXT TIME!

Stranger Things; Zachariah’s Death

32(S3E6)-Worth Saving

32

(Season 3, Episode 6)

Worth Saving

36 hours before the instant…

Love is a great and terrible magic.

Had Zachariah had a normal life and never been pulled into this madness time and time again, he would still believe in magic because he had felt love.  When it finds you first, it gets inside you without rhyme or reason.  It is not quantifiable by any scientist (no matter what he tells you).  It cannot be broken down into a mathematical number or equation.  When love is in someone’s heart, it gives them power; power to change themselves and the very basis of their realities.  When it turns, however, it becomes a sickness unlike any other.  It cuts to the core of a person.  Physically, it can make you hurt in your bones. Mentally, it will take all your hope and leave you with the reality that you are a just a small person in a big universe and that you don’t matter.

This is the place that Zachariah presently occupied.  Add in the fact that he had recently been informed that he was the vessel of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and he was at an all-time low.

Zachariah had broken off from the rest of the group, who were planning their valiant mission to save him.  Valiant...  Zachariah tried to wrap his head around the idea of a bunch of assholes trying to save a guy they found trying to kill himself.

“Dude, what the hell?”  Zachariah was brought of his wallowing by the voice of his oldest friend and initiate to the magic world, Scott.

Zachariah shrugged.  “Oh yeah, sorry.  This is more than a little crazy.”

Scott shook his head.  “Yeah, it’s pretty insane, but that is not what I’m talking about.”

Zachariah took a second and realized that Scott was speaking of his attempt to murder himself.  “Oh… that.”

Scott’s eyebrows went up.  “Oh, that?  That is the best you got?”

Zachariah looked at the ninjas then at the dwarf, and finally at the druid.  “Scott, how are you so okay with all of this?”

Scott shrugged.  “I read a lot of fantasy as a kid, don’t change the subject.  If I had not shown up when I did, you would be dead.”

Zachariah nodded.  “That was the idea, buddy.”

“Are you kidding me?”  Scott snapped.  “It can’t be that bad.”

“How the fuck would you know?”  Zachariah stood, his anger was getting the best of him.  “With your fucking family and your happy life, what would you know?”

“Everybody gets dumped.”  Scott replied, exasperated.

“Oh stuff it.”  Zachariah said, angrily.  “I lost everything, my whole life was her and it turned out she was a mythical, soul-stealing monster.  I’m nearing thirty and I got nothing.”

“Look man, it’s just life.  Since when have you-wait, what?”  Scott started angry but ended up confused.  “Mythical, soul-stealing monster?  Did you mean that figuratively or literally?”

“Literally.”  Zachariah replied heavily.  “Very literally.  Not to mention, the evil me from another dimension who I watched die, because he was in love with a women that might not even exist here!”

Scott’s momentum was in trouble.  “So Mary as a …?”

“Succubus.”

“Really, a real one, and you fought another you?”

“From another dimension, he was hyper intelligent and used nano machines.” Zachariah explained.

“Wow.”  Scott said.  “That is fucked up.”

“Yeah.”  Zachariah agreed.

Scott attempted to rally.  “Well, that is still no reason to fucking kill yourself, man.”

“We have to move.”  Kahn broke into the argument.  “Mel will not hold forever.”

“Where, exactly, are we going?”  Zachariah asked.

Mel answered.  “We need to get to the chamber of time.  It is a place where all time in that place intersects.  It’s said that the chamber is directly connected to the time stream itself.  The Mages went in to prepare the spell to summon the Dahaka.  If one of us can get inside and stop them from casting the spell, we can stop the Dahaka.”

“And what?”  Zachariah cut in.  “Bring about the end of the world when the Four Horsemen get free?”

“One problem at a time, eh?”  Bevan said, nonchalantly.

Zachariah scoffed at him.  “What are you doing here, anyway?  I don’t know you?”

Bevan shrugged.  “Boredom?”

Zachariah stared in disbelief.  “You are going to face a time eating monster and the Four Horsemen of Hell because you are bored?”

“We have to get moving, we do not have much time.”  Kahn said sternly, trying to get things back on track.

Kahn had her ninjas open the door in the floor of the ancient church and began down the stairs to the garden below.  The group began to move and Zachariah tried not to think about the empty hunger in his stomach or where it had come from so fast.

****

10 years after the instant…

“I need to cast a spell to get us down there.”  The Killer said as he returned to the surface.

Big Green scoffed.  “Why should I?  You know what it costs for a spell like that?”

The Killer turned to him, his eyes cold.  “Do it.”

“I don’t take orders from you, ninja.”  He growled while pulling a stack of cash from inside his green suit.

“I need a bubble, on the double, to help us get into trouble!” Big Green said the words to the Leprechaun spell and the cash in his hand exploded into bright blue flame.  The legends of Leprechauns and their pots of gold is not without founding in reality.  The truth was, leprechaun magic was one of the most powerful of all, but it had a price, quite literally.  In order to cast any spell, the leprechaun needed a certain amount of currency which he would lose when the spell was cast.  This had ingrained a need for money of all kinds in the species, since they actually needed to be rich just to use magic.  They were trained from birth to acquire money and know all that there was to know about it.

The Leprechauns ad been shunned by Avalon because of their perceived ability to damage the world’s economy, something the humans needed to survive.  The Leprechauns had pleaded to have the council reconsider, that they would instill new restrictions on their people in order to regulate the economy.  Avalon wanted none of that.

A bubble with a green hue appeared around the four travelers and lifted them off the ground before descending into the hole.  They passed the Rock Troll’s cave and entered the gigantic subterranean cave, the underground lake below them and the forest in front of them.  The cave somehow stayed lit by magic.  The energies from what lay under supplied the garden with reality bending life.

The bubble popped and they dropped on the shore.  “We need to move quickly through the forest to the spiral.”

So, the chamber of time was located in the same place as Zersch in season one!  It’s like the author planned it all to end in the place it all began!  More likely, he’s just trying to convince you he meant to do that!

Next week on

Stranger Things; Zachariah’s Death.