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…