38
(Season
3, episode 12)
The Instant… Again
Zachariah was out of time.
The long walk down the spiral had
been an interesting one, as he had reconnected with his friend. He had let Scott in on everything that had
happened to him since that fateful day when the Druids and ninja's had appeared
in his dad's backyard to kidnap him. He
told him about the fight with the rock troll, the insane midair battle down
these very stairs and the final battle with the great wyvern Zersch.
He told his friend about his
alternate self, and the trial on the floating city of Avalon, the fight with
the Ork in his room and how Maggie was secretly a succubus. He told him about watching himself die for a
woman he had never met.
He told him everything because
Scott was his best friend and he should know, but also to go through it again
in his mind, looking for holes or pieces that would turn this confusion into
something that made sense. He felt like he was close to something, close to
understanding but it was just out of his reach. It reminded him of when you forget a word and
you can almost see it in your head but can't quite make your mouth say it.
The point had become moot.
The group reached the bottom of
the stairs where once Zachariah had danced with a monster beyond his power and
come out on top. There was a door at the
top, but standing in front of it all were the three Horsemen in all their
terrifying glory.
"It is time for you to
realize your destiny, Zachariah." The
one in the middle appeared to be Zachariah to Zachariah.
To Kahn it was her father.
To Scott it was the weeping widow.
"The middle one is the
horseman of war, it will appear as your greatest fear," Mel said to
strengthen everyone's resolve as they all seemed to take a collective step
backward.
The horseman took a step forward. "Yes, be brave, be bold, it will do you
no good."
Just then, a noise like a small
thunder crack, echoed throughout the giant open space and Mel cried out in pain,
dropping to one knee. Zachariah and
Scott turned and saw the black mass at the edge of the room, slamming into
Mel's shield like an animal testing its cage.
Zachariah whirled back to the Horseman
and saw something new flashed across the face of his mirrored image, fear.
"Go my brothers, the
Rognaithe must die!" The Horseman
of War yelled as Famine and Pestilence followed lead.
"They do not reach The
Gaijin!" Kahn yelled and the ninjas
exploded forward. Chaos followed.
Zachariah stood there as the
unspeakable violence in his name commenced around him and, for the first time
since this whole thing began, started to form a plan, "I think... I think I figured it
out."
Scott, usually a man of action,
watched as a druid and a small army did battle with the physical manifestations
of the apocalypse. "What is it
exactly?"
"Whatever it is, it's time to
move!" Mel said through gritted
teeth, tossing him the key to the door.
Zachariah caught it and yelled. "I just need to get to the door!"
He pushed into motion, his tired
and bruised legs responded by pushing him forward into one last run. If he
could make it to the door, to the chamber, maybe he could fix all of this.
"Stop him!" War yelled from somewhere in the fray and
almost on cue, Famine exploded out of the anarchy, a ball of razor sharp deadly
teeth looking to end Zachariah and release his father.
"Duck!" Bevan yelled and Zachariah dropped, diving
forward into a roll, Famine's hand barley missing him as he did. Bevan's Rune gun
shot was right on and a ball of flame washed over the creature. Zachariah did
not turn back even when he felt the heat singe the hairs on the back of his
neck. He came back to his feet and kept
running.
Red beetles descended on him,
biting his exposed skin and drawing blood. Zachariah screamed and slowed as Pestilence
attacked. He was unable to do anything. He
dropped to one knee as the beetles became so heavy, his sight was becoming
cloudy.
"Grab on!" Kahn yelled as a weighted chain hit the floor
in front of Zachariah.
He grabbed the chain and wrapped
it around his hand and looked up. Through
the mess of bugs on his face, he saw Kahn and four of the ninjas, two on either
side of her. Kahn held the chain and
anchored herself to the floor while the other four made three quick and strange
hand gestures.
"Uindo!" They yelled in unison before throwing their
hands forward. Four extreme gusts of wind converged on Zachariah. The chain
went taught and he was lifted off the ground but the bugs were ripped off him
and hurled away. The wind subsided a
second later and Zachariah fell to the dust covered stone, itchy, but bug free.
"Go!" Kahn yelled and leapt past Zachariah into
action with the other ninjas.
Zachariah pulled himself up and
pushed up the stairs, the home stretch for the door...
The blow caught him in the chest
and hurled him through the air down the steps and crashing to the concrete with
a sickening thud and a cloud of stone dust. Zachariah had never been hit like that and he
had been in two car accidents in his life. He coughed uncontrollably and gasped for air. He turned to see the dark image of himself
striding towards him.
War smiled. "I told you it would not matter.”
Zachariah screamed at his body to
move but it would not. He had taken too much damage and had not had enough time
to pull it back together. War raised his
foot to step on Zachariah's head and release the final horseman and the
Armageddon that coursed through his veins.
That's when Scott blindsided the
horsemen.
Scott had thrown training to the
wind and put everything into a tackle spearing the horsemen. They hit the unforgiving floor, hard. Scott yelled to his friend, "GO!"
Zachariah pulled himself together
and began to stand when the pain hit him. It felt like a cold boney hand had wrapped
itself around his heart and was crushing it. Zachariah screamed and stumbled again. Death
had become impatient and was taking matters into his own hands.
Zachariah scowled and gritted his
teeth. "Fuck you, pal! We are going through that door!"
He stood again and reached out
with the key, placing it in the lock. Again,
the pain came and he fell to one knee. Death couldn't kill him from inside his body
but it didn't mean he was going to make it easy for him.
Zachariah turned back and saw the
resolve fade from Mel's eyes. The mage
had lost faith and had begun to believe the Dahaka was the only way. Through the chaos, he saw Mel mouth the words,
'I'm sorry.'
Zachariah nodded and mouthed back,
'It's okay'
The shield dropped and the Dahaka
exploded forward. Ninja warriors were
parted and hurled, Famine was toppled under the black mass of void that moved
with a singular purpose at Zachariah.
For a second, Zachariah thought of
just letting it come and take him. That oblivion might be the only way, after
all. Those mages all those years ago
must have known more than some simple dishwasher, right?
"No”. He spoke the word to himself more than anyone
else and dragged the door open, closing his eyes and stepping through into the
chamber.
He had not expected the
otherworldly place to feel so familiar. It
was white, white for as far as the eye could see, but it did not feel like he
was closed in, but instead like an open space. He looked down and had to fight a momentary
feeling of vertigo as he saw the absence of ground. Make no mistake, he was not flying, it was more
like he was standing on nothing. All
around him in the distance, he saw small black spots. Each seemed to throb and
pulse with energy onto itself.
He understood the place faster than
he thought he should. The dots were all
the times that people had entered this chamber and they were all happening now,
all changeable, all of them working to decide how the rest of the world ticked
on. He knew that if he moved and thought
about the one he wanted to go to, he would get there. Why he knew any of this was a mystery to him
but he felt the Dahaka behind him, entering the chamber and coming for him.
He thought of the Time Mages and
began to run. Five steps later, one of the dots raced toward him and he stopped
cold in his tracks at what he saw, "Scott?"
Scott was barely recognizable. He wore a long black coat that had been torn
to shreds. His face was older and covered in scars. He held a nasty looking sword above his head
as he stood over one of four shrouded monks who chanted, sitting in a circle. The Haggard face looked over with shock at his
long lost friend, "Zach?"
Zach and Scott meet again, but
this is far from the friend he left outside battling War. Will Zachariah let his murderous compadre kill
the Time Mages and destroy the Dahaka, or can he find another way to fix all
this? Find out on the thrilling series
finale!
NEXT WEEK...
STRANGER THINGS; ZACHARIAH'S
DEATH.
TO BE CONCLUDED...
