Transcendancy Ch. 03

"As you say, my Lord." There was silence for a moment, and their joined thoughts held until images and ponderings came across from Markus.

"When will the child be born?" Bethany ran her hands back and forth over her still-slim belly, trying to feel the life of the child within her. Her hand thrummed with the child's heartbeat, and she squeezed Markus's hand.

"I have never been a mother. And I'll wager there has never been a child such as this." Markus didn't respond, and Bethany closed her eyes again, feeling the drowsiness of sleep coming to her as the sun began to heat up the earth around them. Markus's voice was quiet in her thoughts.

"The world will be his cradle."

********

The sixteen warriors strode up the hill, armed to the teeth. Jack and Adam walked in front, the others all wore the cloaking robes of their orders. They crested the hill and didn't stop as they walked purposefully down the hill towards the Castle Della Nostrum. The sun wasn't yet up, but it would only be minutes. Gabriel felt his heart beating fast, and his head began to throb as he stared at the door.

They stood in silence as Adam blessed them quietly, and Jack cocked his gun and made sure his machete was loose in its sheath. Gabriel's breath was hot in his throat, and something sparked up and down his spine, like someone was running a tiny taser along his vertebrae. His hands started to shake, and Jack stepped up beside him as the Inquisitors pulled out their own blades.

Gabriel looked at Mariella and smiled softly as his eyes started to change colour. "I love you, Mariella." She didn't turn, but Jack scoffed and put his hand on Gabriel's shoulder and called his name. Gabriel didn't answer, just stared at the door, feeling things changing within him, moving inside of him as he felt himself getting stronger. His eyes changed first, and his hands started to burn hotly. Jack shook his shoulder again urgently.

"Kid, what's going on?" Gabriel stared at the door and a slow smile moved across his face. He stretched out his hand and then clenched it into a fist. Mariella turned to him and gasped, her hand going to her mouth as she whispered a prayer. Jack stepped around in front of Gabriel, and clawed his sunglasses off, staring at Gabriel in awe.

Gabriel's eyes were completely blue, and were actually letting out blue smoke, as though his eyes themselves were evaporating. He tilted his head to the side as the Inquisitor Warriors moved up behind him. Adam crossed himself and adjusted his dark vest as the Inquisitors knelt behind Gabriel. He extended his hand and blue flames slowly licked up his skin, until his hands burnt brightly.

He flexed his fingers wide and his smile widened. "They know we're here. They're expecting us. But they don't know." Mariella drew a sword and Jack pulled another gun from his waistband.

"Gabriel?" Jack nervously looked back at Adam, who didn't blink, but instead waited calmly. "Gabe, c'mon, kid, what don't they know?" It held there for a moment, until Gabriel drew his sword, and the blue flames quickly flickered along the blade, and Gabriel pulled his hood up over his head.

"They don't know that they're all going to die."

With that he kicked open the door and let loose a blast of blue fire straight down the corridor, letting out a roar of battle rage. He took off at a run, into the darkness, and the others ran after him. Gabriel felt himself moving through the corridors, smashing away or blasting the dark wolves that reached out for him. He could feel the greatest numbers of them down below, and headed down that way.

They leapt at him, but bloodlust had hold of him, and Gabriel welcomed them with blasts of white-hot flame from his hands or scything slashes of his sword. He breathed evenly, but felt himself smiling as he destroyed the creatures in biblical proportions. He came to some steps, and four of the creatures met him there.

He didn't even slow down, whirling around and booting one of the creatures back into the wall and shoving his hand up into its throat, blasting the head apart with his blue fire. His sword swung around and took the head of another, and he felt himself being lifted off the ground as one of the creatures grabbed him from behind.

Gabriel's hand burnt brighter still as he punched down, feeling the cold, dark heart in the creature's chest as he burnt through its flesh. The bloodwolf howled, then disintegrated, falling apart in charred remains. Gabriel turned to the last, who reeked of fear. Gabriel tilted his head and smiled, and the wolf turned to run, but his sword burst through its chest, and the creature died.

Gabriel ran down the steps, feeling himself eagerly waiting for more kills, and spotted more of the creatures clawing their way up the steps. His smile was drunken and wide as he tumbled down and kicked out, his sword flicking through the throats of the wolves as they moved to claw him on the way past.

He rolled into the cavern and gave another screaming laugh as he reached his hand up, setting the stone roof ablaze with angelfire. There were dozens of bloodwolves in here, and they each sat up and began to growl hungrily. Gabriel began to laugh as he swung his sword around and leapt towards the nearest.

Mariella ran through the torchlit corridors, her sword in one hand and the Spear of Destiny in the other. The Spear glowed in the dark light, and Adam and Jack stalked through behind her, trying to catch up with Gabriel, but trying not to run into a trap as well. The Inquisitors fanned out behind them, warily running through the darkness and into the rooms they passed, checking to make sure they were clear.

The Magdelena moved through the darkness comfortably, her sense of danger not warning her in the least. Gabriel had killed everything in his path, the path she now followed quickly. They came to some steps, and Mariella started down them quickly, while Adam and Jack exchanged glances at the death and destruction that Gabriel had brought to the Castle.

"What is he, Padre?" Adam scoffed as he started down the steps, Jack close at his heels. The Inquisitors moved behind them silently, efficiently checking the bloodwolves were dead. Even those silent warriors were a bit taken aback by the cold destruction that Gabriel had brought down on the Castle, though they didn't show it in anything more than quick glances between them.

Adam grabbed a torch off the wall and Jack drew his machete from his hip holster as they kept going down the steps, slick with blood. "He's half angel, Jack. His angelic side is coming out, now, when it's needed." Jack's lip curled up and he shook his head helplessly. Adam pointed down the steps to where Mariella had stopped, her Spear and sword slack in her hands as she stared out at the cavern.

"What, Jack? You believe in vampires and werewolves, but not angels?" Jack didn't answer as Adam pulled a shotgun from out of his robes. They reached the bottom of the steps, and Mariella took a shallow breath.

"He is Death." Her simple tone belied the incredible scene before them. Over a hundred of the creatures were strewn out on the cavern floor. The blue light across the ceiling of the cavern was fading slowly, and the blood and gore across the stone looked black. The last of the Inquisitors caught up with them, and they began to move out into the cavern.

The sounds of battle were coming closer, and the holy warriors began to fan out, checking that the creatures were all dead. Some were not as dead as the others, and began to move out, trying to attack. The Inquisitors were only human, but had been preparing and training to battle creatures of the dark since birth. As the battle began to rage, more and more of the faithful warriors began to fall, and Mariella fought hard to keep the creatures from overwhelming them.

More and more of the beasts came to them, and then Mariella gave a shout as Gabriel came back around the corner of the cave, running down and killing more of the bloodwolves. They ran from him in terror, some in human form and others in wolven. He ran them down and killed them all. The Magdelena shouted a call to her Lord Christ and moved to attack the creatures as Adam and Jack began to shoot into the mass of fur and teeth.

Gabriel roared in a berserker rage as he swung his sword, feeling it flow around him almost in a dance, as though it were merely a part of him. The creatures slashed and bit, but nothing touched him. He could feel the creature's fear, their terror overwhelming their hunger and rage. It wasn't Gabriel Lehane that moved through them like a bladed wind, it was someone else. SomeTHING else.

The last of the creatures backed away, caught between certain death with Gabriel's sword and fire, and Mariella's Spear and sword. The Inquisitors flowed out around them, surrounding the group. Gabriel didn't pause for a moment. No witty banter, no clever quips, no offers of surrender. He moved into the clustered, frightened bloodwolves, his sword never stopping for a moment.

Mariella followed suit, until the last died, impaled through the back of the throat by the Spear of Destiny and beheaded by the Sword of the Archangel. There was a sudden silence in the cavern, and Gabriel's blue eyes shifted into the darkness, still searching. "There are more." His voice was deep and calm, and Adam stepped forwards.

"We'll clean them out of here. You've got to find the leader, this Packmaster. You've got to find him." Gabriel turned to Mariella, and the two shared a nod then moved back up the stairs. Jack let out a long whistle and took a breath. Torches switched on as the fire above them faded completely, and several relieved whines sounded from around the cave.

The Inquisitors attached torches to crossbow arms and rifle barrels, and Adam nodded to them. They formed a line, searching high and low for more. Eight of the Inquisitors had fallen in the battle so far, but Jack, Adam, and the remaining four moved through the darkened cavern. The sudden silence fell down on the six church warriors like a blanket.

A roar sounded, then was cut short by an Inquisitor's blade. A barrage of Jack's gun's put another down, and then his machete ended it completely. One creature leapt down from an overhanging rock, slashing away the life of one of the Inquisitors, then leapt for another but was cut in half by a ready blade. The top half crawled in hatred towards Jack, but Adam stepped on it's back and put his shotgun to the back of it's head and pulled the trigger.

Jack gave his machete a shake and sighed, nodding to Adam as the two of them kept going through the darkness. Another of the Inquisitors when down as a wolf rose up behind him, biting his neck and ripping the flesh out hungrily. Jack and Adam gave echoing shouts and fired, putting the creature down. The last two Inquisitors slashed the creature apart as Jack and Adam reloaded. Another roar sounded and there was only one Inquisitor left.

The three warriors backed up, to one another and Jack nodded to the cavern steps, leading back up to the castle. Adam nodded and the Inquisitor pulled off his mask. He was a young boy, barely a shadow of hair on his jaw, though no fear showed in his eyes. Adam reached down and picked up a fallen Inquisistor's sword, and Jack followed suit as they edged back to the door.

There was movement to the young Inquisitor's side and he let a barrage of gunfire out, putting down a moving corpse of one of his fallen brothers. Jack swore as another began to move, and leant down to slice through the neck, even as it grew more muscular and began to sprout dark fur. As soon as he'd leant down though, something leapt over him, barely brushing his back, and there was a wet ripping sound.

Adam turned and grabbed at Jack, who stood up unhurt, and they both glanced at the young boy. His neck was a bloody stump, and his body slowly crumpled under it's own weight, falling to the stone at their feet. Jack backed up and he and Adam stood side by side as they crab-walked towards the steps, barely a dozen feet away.

"It might not have been such a hot idea, comin' in here without the big guns as back-up, eh Padre?" Adam gave a short bark of laughter, which echoed in the dark cavern.

"You ARE the big gun, Jack. I might have been out of the game for a while, but you were born a Slayer. It's who you are." Jack scoffed and narrowed his eyes as they got closer and closer to the steps. "It's good to see you back in the game though, Jack, I..."

Cardinal Adam Guiteau never finished his sentence. Jack hit the ground as Adam's body slumped down onto him, knocking him off balance. Adam's chest was torn apart, his heart a bloody mess, and Jack swore and raised his eyes and his flashlight, his expression pained as a large creature stood up to its full height, staring down at Jack with bright red eyes.

Jack fumbled below him for a second, grabbing his friend's shotgun and pulling it up as the creature stared at Jack, a slow smile spreading it's maw. Finally it gave a sigh and the smile widened as the beast tilted it's head. "Hello, Jack. My dick's working just fine." Jack's expression slid off his face as the beast began to change back to a human form.

"Jesus Christ." The figure in the dark laughed harshly.

"More teeth, less religion, Jack. Though you could say we've both been reborn." Jack raised the shotgun, but couldn't fire, and lowered it, then raised it again. His expression was torn, until finally he dropped the gun to the ground.

"Montoya." He was leaner, and had a different look in his dark eyes, but there was no mistaking who he was. His second in charge on the last mission he'd gone on with a team of slayers. His best friend since either of them could remember. The man who had covered his back for two days, despite being bit by a vampire. The one sucker that Jack had never had the heart to hunt down and destroy.

Montoya held his hands out wide. "Bingo, partner."

**********

Gabriel sheathed his sword as they moved up into the Castle, and Mariella brandished only her Spear. They moved quickly, as the monsters had for the most part been confined on the lower levels. Blood covered them, though none of it was theirs. Their robes were in tatters, and Gabriel had a long scratch along his right gauntlet from where he had punched straight through a gaping jaw.

They came to a large room, with huge glass windows. Mariella frowned as she touched the glass, and looked back at Gabriel, whose blue covered eyes searched everywhere. He glanced at her, and then at the glass, as he turned back and touched a strange device, which looked to be some sort of torture machine like a stretching rack. He kicked the pile of ashes on the ground and nodded in understanding.

"A killing room, for vampires." Mariella nodded in sudden comprehension.

"Or bloodwolves that do not develop properly." They moved to the next room, obviously living quarters. The glass was different here, thicker, and with a tint to it that Mariella ran her fingers across. "UV shielding. So they can watch the sun. Or see out during the day. This must be where the boy took those photos from."

Gabriel sighed as he knelt down in front of a makeshift throne. The chair smelt of blood and sex, and moisture still darkened the fabric at the front of the cushion. Gabriel gripped the small, terrified head of a young boy and closed his eyes. It was difficult, as the muscles were stiff to move. "The photos that killed him." Mariella turned and gasped as Gabriel stood, moving through the room purposefully.

She knelt at the boy's remains and began to pray as Gabriel slunk through the room towards the bed. There was a single figure in it, a young man in his early twenties. He was breathing slowly, his face content and peaceful, though his mouth was surrounded in blood. Gabriel felt his rage building, and drew his sword with the long, slow hiss of leather and steel.

He waited, and tapped the lad on the leg with his sword. The holy metal burnt his skin, and the lad leapt out of bed, naked and confused. His eyes locked onto Gabriel's, and he sneered. "You have no idea what I am, you fucking idiot." Gabriel watched him change impassively, then rolled his head around on his shoulders and fixed the creature with a glare.

"You're dead," he said matter-of-factly, and sheathed his sword. The boy began to laugh and then coughed and shuddered as the head of Mariella's Spear burst through his chest. She ripped it back out of him and the boy blinked and fell to one knee, trying to stem the blood that was pouring out of his chest and back. He turned around, staring at Mariella pleadingly, but the Magdelena's tears flowed down her face as she stared at him in hatred.

Gabriel walked around and lifted the beast's chin up with the tip of his sword. "You are more than an abomination of flesh. You are a corruption of the soul. You are more evil than a thousand of man's sins." The young bloodwolf growled and surged to his feet, but Gabriel slashed his sword across and then brought it straight down along the beast's body.

The young bloodwolf took a step, one clawed paw held out as his head fell behind him, splitting in two, and then his body followed, splitting from neck to groin, the wound already cauterised by the holy might of the Sword of the Archangel. Mariella took a deep breath and glanced at Gabriel, who sheathed his sword and turned to her, taking her in his arms and holding her tightly for a moment.

She leant back and kissed him, and they held one another close until Gabriel turned his head, feeling something else close by. The sound of clapping came to them, and the two holy warriors whirled, staring at the blonde woman in the doorway. Her thick curls cascaded down her naked body, past lavender eyes that laughed at the two warriors. She held her hands wide, and bowed to them.

"Ah, well this looks like the beginning of a joke, doesn't it? A nun, a monk and a bloodwolf walk into a bedroom..." Mariella took a deep breath and split from Gabriel as they spread out, to come at the creature from both sides. Katherine bared her teeth. "No sense of humour? Ah. Too much the consummate killers, then." Katherine nodded to herself and spread her hands wide, beginning her change.

"Alright, let's see what you've got."

**********

"You look like shit, Jack." Montoya moved closer to his old partner and squatted down in front of him. He looked at his left wrist and tapped it twice as though pointing out the time. "You're a little late, partner. You told me I had two days, not two decades. You getting' soft in your old age?" Jack didn't answer as Montoya reached out and slapped his cheek, then stood up and walked away.

"Two days, Jack. That's what you gave me. I'd spent my entire life up until then as a Slayer, and then I was a fuckin' sucker, man. And you gave me two days. I waited. You didn't come." Montoya's dark eyes were intense, accusing as they stared at Jack in the shadows of the torchlight. "I thought, Jack'll finish me off, make it so I don't have to be this fuckin' thing for all of fuckin' eternity. But you didn't come." Montoya shook his head.

"Fuckin' Jack Crowe. Katrina was in the back of the truck, and neither of us wanted it, but it consumed us, Jack. There was nothing we could do. She'd already bitten me, drank me nearly dry, but I hadn't drunk. I was waiting, Jack, waiting for you to save me. And you didn't fuckin' come. You're a fuckin' asshole, Jack." Montoya leered down at Jack and cocked his head, listening.

"Your padre wasn't much of a slayer after all, huh Jack? He's dead, you know. He wasn't my first. I haven't killed in a while except to eat. It's different, pal. Everything's different." His expression turned suddenly savage, and he hit Jack with a clubbing blow to the side of the head, and Jack reeled back as his vision blurred. Montoya watched him stumble and clenched both fists, feeling the bones crack and settle.