Chapter 20

Time attempted to give an explanation as to how exactly he planned to keep the weapon safe, but it all went straight over Jennifer’s head, something about time dialing or pockets for dimensions and other nonsense like that. She just smiled and nodded as Time continued to go more and more in depth, explaining how the limited amount of influence he still held over time and the knowledge he’d ascertained over millennia of practice gave him an advantage over Death and, through these methods he could, essentially, prevent Death from ever laying hands on the weapon ever again. Jennifer’s face fought to keep from revealing the sad truth that he was putting all this work into hiding a fake, but she couldn’t go back on her decision, the best place for the weapon was with her, she knew that.

“What I want to know is where ya managed to hide this damn Book for so long!” Jennifer interrupted Time’s rambling to snap James back from his musings as they strolled through the city streets. James looked quite pleased by the question,

“The trick to hiding something from anyone, is to put it somewhere they’ve become accustomed to looking at, a place they assume they’ve entirely figured out. People claim to know something like the back of their hand, and yet a bug could rest on the back of your hand for hours and you’d likely never notice. So, as my brother searched for me I decided that the only place he’d likely overlook is the place he loved the most, the place with the most humans.” At this point the pieces began to snap into place and Jennifer’s mouth hung open as the truth set in.

“You can’t be serious…” As they walked out from under a canopy overlooking the street and they had a fuller view of the sky, James stretched out his arm and guided their eyes to, “My tower.” James chuckled, he’d figured she’d appreciate that. Time wheeled himself to Jennifer’s side and nudged her in the ribs,

“Don’t feel too stupid, took me nearly two thousand years to figure it out.” Jennifer recalled all the times she’d attempted to enter the tower, all the times she’d been caught and thrown out, everyone’s inability to tell her anything about the tower, the way it seemed to cry out to her, all of it suddenly made so much sense.

“I think my favorite part of all this is the fact that Death spent so much time ruling the very city that secretly housed his greatest enemy.” Jennifer couldn’t help but agree, James may be a pompous jackass, but he was a clever pompous jackass, she’d give him that.

As they entered the tower, Jennifer saw the familiar sight with new eyes, the ruined museum aesthetic no longer fooled her, the artifacts housed within, upon closer inspection, revealed themselves to be nothing more than rocks of varied shapes, sizes and colors, the descriptions beneath them, nothing but nonsense scribbles, faded enough to convince the average onlooker that it may have meant something at one time. Near the back of the wide show area sat a door with the words, ‘employees only’ engraved on the front.

“This is the job you were referring to”? Jennifer sighed, coming to terms with all the half truths James had told her. With a nod, James moved to open the door, before stopping and reaching into his pocket,

“Almost forgot the key,” He laughed, producing a gold pocket watch from inside his coat

Pocket. Time’s eyes widened at the sight of his old watch.

“Wh-where did you find it?!” The old man’s face lit up like a child’s as he leapt from his chair and snatched the watch from James’ hands and cradled it like a newborn child.

“After the battle, when Death struck you down, the watch wound up in the hands of a

human being by the name of James Blackwell, he didn’t make it back to the city with you, and so he had to hide from Death without any other aid then his wits and this watch, a watch that kept ticking even though the world seemed to have fallen around him. It was the watch that brought me to him and helped guide my decision to converge with him. I kept the name because I felt it honored him… At the time I hadn’t yet realized the significance of my decision, wrenching his choice from him and killing him for my own gain… I often wonder what he would have said if I’d simply asked him, explained the situation to him and let him decide, but I’ll never have that chance now. I can’t change what I’ve done, but I can make this right. Brother,” Time, whose face had shone brightly listening to his brother’s conclusions, suddenly grew focused and attentive, “when you’re restored, and all is right, tell James that I’m sorry for what I did to him, take care of him for me will you”? Time nodded and suddenly the weight of James’ decision struck Jennifer head on, before it’d merely been a nice way of making amends for all he’d put her through, but now… Well now she knew this wasn’t simply for her, James was doing this for everyone, for Time, for Enoch and Meerous, for Slade and Squawk, for Helios and Adam, for Freddy and Claudia, even for Lila. But why? Why did he have to do anything at all? Why sacrifice himself for them? She eyed him carefully, none of this made any sense, and she again began to wonder if his words were true, if this wasn’t another trick. The weird feeling that’d lead her to go after him, lead her to join them on their way to the Book, she began to wonder where that weird feeling emerged from. She thought about the weapon in her bag, and it gave her some comfort to know she had it, just in case.

Through the door sat a sturdy looking bookshelf, stacked with all different kinds of books of various shapes, sizes and colors. The titles of the Books had been written in a language Jennifer had never seen before and thus she could only guess as to what the contents of these books may be.

“So…” Jennifer ventured, “which one is THE Book”? James chuckled and her face grew red, memories of their first few days together flashed through her mind.

“The Book is behind the bookcase, you really think I’d just leave the book sitting out in the open behind one weak door? You really have a pretty low opinion of me don’t you”? He laughed as he knelt before the bookcase, Time layed a gentle hand on Jennifer’s shoulder, and squeezed gently, his eyes meeting her and seeing more than she wished they would.

“So, how do we open this do-” Time’s question halted as shouting could be heard from all across the city, screams of alarm, confusion and panic wafted in from outside.

“Damnit!” James snapped his head over to Jennifer, “The Deathless must have found us, they can’t be allowed to interfere, go and find Meerous and Enoch, explain the situation and see if you can convince them to help. If any of the Deathless make it hear then Death will know exactly what we’re up to.” Jennifer stood frozen for a moment, images of her and James surrounded by the Deathless on the road ran like static through her mind, James’ commanding voice, the imminent fear of the heartless monsters closing in around her, but this time… this time she felt Time’s comforting hand on her shoulder, and instead of allowing the storm of fear to overwhelm her, she focused on the pressure from Time’s touch and took in a deep breath, before nodding and rushing out of the tower toward her friends.

As she ran, Jennifer became aware of another person following behind her, she turned her head slightly only to see James, all business, keep pace behind her.

“What are ya doing?! I thought you were opening the door?!” Jennifer shouted over her shoulder.

“Time’s handling it, I’m walking him through the steps as we speak. But, if we’re going to stand against the Deathless, I should be here to help.” Though she didn’t want to admit it, she felt much safer knowing she wasn’t going to have to do this without him. By the time the pair made it back to the house, Meerous and Enoch were already well aware of the situation and preparing to move out.

“How bad is it”? James asked Meerous, the great serpent’s eyes gave her away,

“I...I’m not going to sugarcoat it, there’s likely half a million Deathless less than a mile away from the city. How long will it take to get to the Book”? Furrowing his brow, James mulled over the question for a few seconds before letting out a sigh of frustration,

“Best case scenario, Time has the door open in five hours, worst case, eight.”

“There’s no way we can hold them off for that long, even with both of us fighting together…” Enoch apologized.

“What if we all fought”? Jennifer’s voice boomed confidently behind James, all eyes turned to face her.

“...No offense Jennifer, but I don’t think you or I is really going to add much…” James muttered as his mind sat elsewhere working out solutions.

“I don’t mean you and me, I mean the whole city! Adam told me that everyone in this city… Well mostly everyone, fought in the war against Adam way back when. Why don’t we ask them to fight”? Jennifer corrected, the idea making more and more sense in her head by the second.

“That war was nearly 800 years ago right”? Enoch wondered, “What makes you think anyone here could still fight”?

“That’s the best part! Nobody here has aged a day since the war, they’re all still in peak fighting condition! And I know they still have all their weapons! This could work, but we need to rally them now!”

“That’s impossible!” James snapped, veins bulging from his forehead as he rubbed his temples impatiently, “The Deathless will be here in less than an hour, we’d never get to everyone in time.

“I believe I can help with that.” The nurse entered the room confidently, ignoring the glares cast her way by the man on fire and the watery snake popping in through the window. “Seeing as everyone within the city is alive I can contact them all at once, whatever message you wish me to pass on I’ll do so gladly.” Meerous looked as if she might bite off the woman’s head, Enoch seemed primed to tell her to go to hell, but before either of them could do that, Jennifer piped up in an even controlled tone,

“Good, that’ll help a lot. I’m ready to talk to them now, if that’s okay”? Even the nurse seemed surprised by her tone, but she shrugged and simply gestured for Jennifer to speak.

“Fellow citizens! I know many of you remember me as the growing girl, and that you may not be too fond of hearing from me, but please put all that aside for now and listen. Many of you are beginning to remember things, strange things that don’t seem to make a lick of sense, but I need you to put those memories aside as well, right now we all need to focus on the present. Monsters are heading toward the city, many of you have already seen them, but for those of you who haven’t then either check for yourselves or just trust me, either way I need you to understand just how real this threat is. These monsters are coming to kill us, destroy our city and leave everything we love in ruins, we are NOT GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN! Within the basements of each of your homes are staches of weapons, though you may not have firm memories of them yet, each of you is extremely proficient in their use, trust me on that.” Suddenly the thoughts of each pancing citizen flooded into the room,

“Who is this”?

“Why are you in my head”?

“Monsters?!?!”

“I’m gonna run for it!”

“New Brain, who dis”?

“Don’t believe her, this is some kind of trick!”

“Someone explain to me what’s going on!!”

Jennifer turned to face the room,

“They’re not listening to me!” She screamed in frustration, but that wasn’t entirely accurate, in fact one man had listened very closely.

With directions he now read off of the very note that had sent him into despair months ago, he made his way through the city toward the outskirts, memories flooding his mind as he pushed past them, a single mission, a single destination in mind.

The door flung open, all eyes turned to see Jennifer’s father standing in the doorway, eyes like coals, burning with an unyielding determination, Jennifer’s note held with care in his right hand.

“Da-Dad?!” Her surprised went ignored as her father approached the nurse, his eyes refusing to deviate even slightly from their course,

“I need to talk to the city, can you make that happen”? Even Life seemed taken aback, but she nodded anxiously,

“Citizens of Covenant, this is General Isaac Williams speaking, please listen carefully. I know that many of your memories are returning, memories that we all might wish to forget, but now is not the time. My daughter is not lying or deceiving you, there are monsters at our borders, I have seen them myself. Time brought us here for safe keeping, but he has released us, I would imagine, so that we may fight. Remember it was US that failed to see Death’s game, it was US that nearly brought an end to the world and it IS US that will set things right. This is not a request, but an order. Those Officers among you are to gather any men and women capable of fighting and ensure they are armed and prepped. If you are an officer please shout so now.” A series of yells and cries could be heard from the city, General Isaac turned to Rachel, who confirmed she’d heard them. “Now officers, all soldiers have been removed from the connection and we will only be communicating with you all from here on out. Sadly, in our retreat, we did not pick a very defensible portion of the city to settle down in, but that doesn’t mean we won’t use everything at our disposal to defend it! There are five remaining warehouses at these coordinates,” General Isaac focused intently on the layout of the city, revealing the locations of each warehouse as Rachel projected them out to the people. “Within those warehouses you should find enough weaponry and ammunition to form a loose perimeter around the city.” Isaac stopped suddenly as Jennifer placed her hand on his arm. He eyed his daughter with a combination of shame and pride, layered beneath the confusion of her interruption.

“Nurse, would you cut the connection for a moment.” Jennifer requested.

“Jennifer what’s going on? We don’t have time fo-” Isaac began as he turned toward the nurse to begin the instruction again.

“I know we don’t. That’s why James is going to take over from here”? It’s hard to say who found that more shocking, Isaac or James.

“Him? Why would he-”

“Jennifer, I have to agree with your father on this one, I-” Jennifer stopped them both with a wave of her hand.

“James here is Destiny, as in the Form of Destiny himself. When it comes to putting things in order and organizing large groups of beings there isn’t a single being out there that could keep up. James is going to lead the troops from here on out, dad I need ya to keep him informed on what he has to work with.” General Isaac’s eyes widened as he stared at the young man in the scarf with new found understanding. Falling to his knees, Isaac began apologizing for his tone before, though slightly pleased that someone finally had the right reaction, James told him that such formalities were not necessary at the moment. “So, will ya do it”?

“Of course, this is my mess, might as well clean it up right. Alright Rachel, put me through to the people.

Covenant, my name is Destiny, I am the Form of Destiny and I am in need of your assistance, General Isaac has accurately informed you of the threat ahead, and I would ask that you continue forward with the orders he’s already provided you with so far. The ocean you are now adjacent to is allied with us, along with the Form of Fire, they will be assisting you, please do not be afraid when you see them as they are on your side. These monsters are known as Deathless, they are humans and half-Forms that cannot die and will continue to reform each time they are destroyed, but you don’t need to kill them, merely hold them off. Time is in the process of undoing all of this, but he needs a moment to do so, under no circumstances can he be interrupted! The Deathless are marching from the west, meaning that the north and south side will need little defence, merely enough to ensure that no Deathless are able to sneak in. Primary forces should be front and center. The Deathless do not use weapons and therefore have no form of long range combat, use that to your advantage, aiming for their legs to slow down their approach. I will guide you from here, ensuring that you are immediately aware if anything on the battlefield changes. You have your orders, proceed and await further instruction.”

Jennifer gave James a proud grin before sprinting into the city to check on the preparations, she nearly fainted when she saw them. The once mindless drones that plagued her city, stagnant creatures lost in forgotten memories and burdened with pointless mundane routines, no longer walked like shells mimicking human life, no, they shone. Uniforms, uniforms of varying designs and embellished with various emblems clad the men and women who forwent meandering feet and idle stares in exchange for purposeful strides and narrowed eye’d observation. Officers, proud humans adorned in medals and ribbons, barked orders to a captivated audience, eager to follow instruction. Turrets of steel, large guns the size of boulders, belts of copper cased ammunition, swords attached at the hip, rifles slung over shoulders, holstered pistols and cannons dusted off from forgotten corners, all emerged from the warehouses Jennifer used to sneak into as a child, she never thought she’d see them removed. With direction from James, Meerous sent her ocean roaring across the terrain around the city, morphing it into defensible structures, trenches, pits, and cover, created in less than half an hour. The soldiers, hollering war cries, found their way into the trenches and, within an hour, the city bore its fangs once again.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Meerous, deciding that defending both sides of the city may prove quite difficult in her current state, morphed before Jennifer’s eyes into a fierce multi headed leviathan, with multiple heads hovering over various unguarded portions of the city. Enoch, not wanting to roast alive any soldiers who might have an aversion to such things, strolled past the trenches toward the approaching army, stopping a hundred yards from the trenches and plopping himself onto the icy wy ground, melting the snow and leaving him in a circle of dead, dried up grass, his legs crossed and his eyes focused on the monsters ahead.

“Jennifer!” Isaac ran toward her, a strange metal rod in his hand.

“Dad! What’s up, do y’all need me in there”? Taking a moment to catch his breath, Isaac shook his head,

“Actually, James wants you on top of the tower, keeping an eye on things with this.” He placed the rod in Jennifer’s hands. Upon closer inspection, Jennifer noticed the glass circles on either side, one quite small and the other quite large. “It’s called a telescope, you stare through the small end and objects in the distance will appear as if they’re right in front of you.” Jennifer tested the device out, checking in on Enoch who noticed, threw up a thumb and winked.

“Yep, that’d do it!” Jennifer exclaimed, Isaac nodded, smiled, looked as if he might say something more, but grimaced instead, before turning back to toward the house. Jennifer shrugged, whatever he’d wanted to say it could wait, besides, his actions had said more than enough already. With a smile she turned toward her tower, focusing in on the open hands, she’d finally claim her rightful throne.

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A Thunderous crescendo erupted from the world below as Jennifer witnessed the full might of her people. The Deathless, marching mindlessly ahead, finally stepped within range, and the soldiers of Covenant unleashed hell. Cannons blew slews of Deathless to pieces as bullets ripped others to shreds by the thousands, turrets firing large shells into densely packed formations and watching with satisfaction as the Deathless scrambled to escape, only to be blocked by their own ranks. The second the Deathless came under attack, their march morphed into a sprint, the mass flinging themselves directly into the line of fire.

But Adam had not under sold the strength of her people, each shooter hit their mark, obliterating the legs of the Deathless, cripilling them and sending them hurtling to the ground, reducing their charge to a crawl. But the Deathless quickly revealed that they more than merely human automatons, as winged Deathless took to the skies, attempting to rise above the storm of bullets below. Jennifer, watching them through her telescope, began focusing her mind to alert James, before stopping mid thought as precision shots tore through the wings and sent the hybrid Deathless crashing back down to the planet. With a quick glance, Jennifer quickly located the source of the shots, a group of soldiers, each armed with long rifles kitted with small telescopes welded onto the top of the rifle, stood vigilantly with eyes locked onto the sky. Smiling at James’ forethought, Jennifer brought the telescope back around in time to see beast like Deathless emerge from the center of the mob, leaping above their humanoid counterparts and weaving between the cannon fire only to be quickly put down by a well timed focused strike directly targeting the beasts, taking only a moment before the fire resumed its focus on the main horde.

How did they know so quickly? Jennifer wondered, the answer didn’t take long, James’ apologetic voice boomed in her mind.

“Life set up the psychic link, but I modified it slightly, I see what you see, there’s no need for you to consciously think it. If we’d had more time I would’ve asked but…” Jennifer focused on the image of a middle finger, promptly displaying it for James to see before returning her focus to the battle.

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Crazy how much of a difference an hour can make, ammo beginning to run low from constant, unceasing use, the focus of soldiers waning as they begin to miss more and more shots. Suddenly the rifles seemed to weigh more, the triggers stickier and the darkness deeper. Enoch had felt the weight more than anyone, his constant blaze had begun to die down, the job of lighting the whole battlefield had taken its toll and the once bright and fiery Form struggled to even illuminate half of the incoming monsters. Winged Deathless began to escape the eyes of the sharpshooters, landing behind the soldiers and tearing the turrets to shreds before the soldiers overcame their shock, drew their swords, and drove them into the bellies of these creatures, now having to shift their attention between the battlefield and the monsters beside them, waiting till they rose again to continue their rampage.

Jennifer watched in horror from above, the telescope fixed on Enoch who, while putting up his best effort, could be seen with knicks and scratches, bruises and cuts, not enough to halt him, but slowing his movements just enough to make him vulnerable. Yet, through all the madness, James had remained vigilante. No one could mistake his handiwork and Jennifer held nothing but admiration each time she witnessed a group of men, at a moments notice, drop their fire, switch over to the cannons, wait for exactly the opportune moment, and fire into a grouping of Deathless, decimating them and achieving with one shot what would of otherwise taken hundreds. What amazed Jennifer the most was the fact that this wasn’t merely happening with one group at a time, but simultaneously across the battlefield all at once, the focus and quick thinking necessary to pull that off, well Jennifer couldn’t help but be impressed.

Jennifer hadn’t remained helpless either, her hands brimmed with energy as the wind and lightning radiating from the stolen rings called out to her. She felt stupid for not remembering them sooner, but she quickly rectified her delay and got to work balancing the odds. Great bolts of lightning rained down from the heavens and instantly blew hundreds of Deathless to pieces. Jennifer smiled with satisfaction as surprised soldiers glanced toward the sky with awe. The wind, once a cold and bitter rival, not obeyed Jennifer’s every command, backing the soldiers and slowing the charge of the monsters. With a large amount of focus she’d even managed to ground a few flying Deathless, but the focus it took and the distraction from the larger fight made it a fairly pointless endeavor that she forewent quickly.

The next hour crawled on, inch by inch the Deathless swarm made their way closer and closer to the fortifications, none yet breaching the barrier, but certainly much too close for comfort. All the good it’d done though, Enoch’s flames had died down to barely illuminate the ten or so Deathless immediately surrounding him, meaning that the soldiers below were firing into the dark, hoping to hit something.

By hour three the situation descended into a hopeless, mad barrage of everything the humans had left, Deathless now breaching the fortifications slowly, but surely, mauling and dropping bodies left and right. James’ voice boomed through the madness, calling all soldiers to fall back and form a perimeter around the tower. He didn’t have to ask twice. The brilliance of his decision hit Jennifer the second the last soldier left the outer defences and a massive wave tore through the edge of the town, dragging the Deathless off their feet and into the dark. But, with only the weapons on their backs left, and Meerous’ waves only able to push the Deathless back a ways, the peril of the situation had changed little.

Jennifer let out a shocked scream as a winged Deathless rose from below the tower and hovered inches in front of her. She began to reach for the weapon in her bag, but quickly realized that the moment she drew it, James would know that she’d lied to him. Her hesitation lingered a moment too long and the monster raised its talons, and brought them crashing down toward Jennifer’s exposed face. But, this time, she didn’t cower, she faced the beast head on, lowering her head below the swing and charging, shoulder first, into the creature, throwing it off balance and hurtling into the darkness below, with Jennifer clinging to it.

As she fell her mind wandered for a moment to her first brush with death, her fear about her legacy… But she knew, no matter what anyone else thought, she’d die knowing she’d done everything she could, everything in her power and… and something else… as she closed her eyes, ready to embrace the ground beneath her, a smile crept across her face.

The smile quickly turned to shock as talons clamped around her arm descending slightly with her before swooping forward and gliding a ways. Jennifer spun her head around to see a familiar tweed jacket and red bow tie, now clad on a hawk the size of a horse, lifting her back into the air before placing her into the open hands of her tower.

“Squawk! What are you doing here?!” The little bird returned to her regular size, landing on Jennifer’s shoulder and nuzzling against her cheek.

“I couldn’t just leave you silly! Besides, Slade thought you might need the help!” Jennifer thought for a moment and then lowered her head,

“Squawk, I’m glad you came, but, as great as you and Slade are, I don’t think it’ll be enough… Y’all should run while ya still can.” Squawk smiled,

“Wow Jennifer! That’s really quite selfless, but Slade and I didn’t exactly come alone, look.

Before Jennifer had even finished turning to follow Squawk’s outstretched wing, she felt the sun landing softly on her cheek. From behind the Deathless, a great shining star had begun to rise steadily above the horde, great beams of light descending upon the battlefield, illuminating the once snowy landscape, a landscape now bursting forth with flowers and trees of every kind, three legged foxes prancing about through the trees, rabbits and hares, emerging from under the brush, water like geysers shooting from the ground and spraying mist into the air, reflecting the waves of the sun and creating a rainbow that shone in the eyes of every once timid and frightened soldier. No one could look away, every eye gazed in wonderment at the scene before them and, for the first time in centuries, the citizens of Adam saw the sunrise.

Helios appeared next to Jennifer, sitting down on the edge of the hands, patting the spot next to her. As Jennifer sat down, watching the sun, she felt a familiar presence.

“My, look at how he’s grown, you recognize him don’t you”? Jennifer glanced again into the sun and saw him,

“SOLARIS!” She cried with joy, waving at her old friend.

“I figured there was only one star right to watch over you.” Helios smiled, as she held Jennifer’s hand gently, “Now Jennifer, we applaud you for holding out as long as you have, but please, allow us to take it from here. And Destiny, I assume you’re listening, go be with your brother, we can handle it from here.”

“Helios I… I can’t thank you enough for this.” She laughed,

“Don’t thank us, Jennifer was right, we’ve been hiding for far too long, it’s about time we all saw the sun again, don’t you think”? Helios, Jennifer and Squawk watched from above as the soldiers rallied beside the Forms, eagles of massive size descended from the heavens, clouds of darkened hues fell over the Deathless and drowned them in lightning, foxes the size of bears tore into throats, a cloaked figure danced through the Deathless, blade drawn as he tore through any one that came to close. Just when Jennifer thought that the situation couldn’t get any better, Adam began to quake as the ground opened up to swallow the hordes, rising in places to prevent the monsters from overwhelming the soldiers who had charged into the battlefield, swords drawn and battle cries bellowing from their very cores.

The tide of the battle hadn’t just turned, the script had been entirely flipped. No matter how many Deathless approached the city, no matter how many times they reformed, no matter how many of them rose up together, the combined force of humanity and the Forms, proved far too much for them to handle and they fell time and time again. Jennifer watched in wonderment, interrupted by a three legged fox nudging her arm with its nose.

“Freddy!” Jennifer hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed all of them, how much she’d wanted to see them again.

“Aye love, turns out that them Forms can be rallied, just took someone awful persuasive.” Jennifer smiled from ear to ear, she would tell you the praise wasn’t necessary, but certainly appreciated.

“Thanks Freddy.” She smiled,

“Oh, I wasn’t referring to ya, I was talking about the little bird on ya shoulder.” The fox chuckled and Jennifer smacked him, “Ya I reckon I deserve that. In all honesty Jennifer, we needed the kick in the pants from ya, and, no matter what appens next, we’re willing to face it with ya.”

“What happened to just having fun? I thought ya said worrying about the world was boring.” Jennifer chided,

“I don’t know about you love, but I’m aving a grand ole time.” and with that the fox leapt from her side, down the tower and back into the fray, surrounded by an army of three legged king sized foxes by his side.

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The fighting faded into a whisper as the Forms and humans charged after every reawakened Deathless that dared to rise from its defeat. With only a half hour left until Time and Destiny finished opening the door, Jennifer allowed herself to relax and watch proudly as her city shone with honor, purpose, pride, as she knew it once had.

“It’s a shame, I must have lost my invitation.” The chilly voice neither shouted, nor bellowed, but spoke casually with an ease indicative of authority, and, though the voice never raised above the volume of conversation, every ear within and around the city heard it clearly.

All eyes turned to the sky, the sun darkening as the figure above them snapped his fingers, morphing the sun into a red giant, casting the world under a blood red hue. Shaking hands and sweating brows fumbled for direction, but none came, silence had fallen over the battlefield. The Deathless now rose without an ounce of resistance, bowing to the man in the sky with fearful glances, the last ounces of their humanity shaken to their very core at the sight. Weapons fell to the ground, Forms returned their reflections to themselves, the grass withered, the trees abandoned their leaves and the water receded back into the ground.

Jennifer turned to Helios, but she’d frozen, her whole body trembling, pale and suddenly quite small. She knew that man, she’d seen him before, but what she saw now was no longer a man inclined toward negotiation, but one bent on vengeance.

“Jennifer.” The voice whispered in her ear, yet she knew everyone had heard it, all eyes turned to face her, the battlefield starting up at the tower where she cowered. “I had hoped you might have taken my offer, I believed it to be quite generous, but instead here ya are, helping return a tyrant to his throne. Jennifer… Jennifer… Jennifer, I’m actually quite fond of you, ya know? But I simply can’t let ya finish this absurd crusade. So, I want ya to understand, none of this is personal.” Death’s suit began to morph, once a solid now snapped and popped like fire, a dark fire that blew in the wind, yet formed a shadowy robe around him. Wrenching his arm from under the makeshift robe, Death opened wide his hand, a scythe materializing within his pale bony fingers. The scythe stood nearly a head taller than its master, the handle formed from the same shadowy fire that formed the robe. At the top, shining in the red sunlight, a blade, like the claw of a lion, protruded from the fire, so clear as to reflect everything that faced it. Once upon a time, those on the cusp of death would stare into their own reflections, framed within the blade, a promise of what was to come.

Walking down imagined steps, Death descended toward the battlefield, humans and Forms too petrified to run or take up arms, merely stood awaiting the inevitable. But, in the midst of the cowering soldiers, one Form had more to hate from Death than any of the others and, as Death approached the ground, a three legged fox leapt from behind a crag of rocks and toward Death’s throat. Faster than Jennifer could process, Death snapped the fox out of the air and into his outstretched hand, holding him there for a moment, inspecting the creature desperately attempting to wriggle free. With a smile his hand twisted round, from the fox multiple foxes sprung to life, retreating as fast as they could into burrows created from the earlier battle, but, as the neck of the held fox snapped, each fox, no matter how far they’d run, collapsed onto the ground, their necks twisted and their eyes rolled back. Jennifer screamed, but no sound could be heard, upon witnessing Freddy’s death, the Forms had rallied, the humans at their side as they charged toward a grinning reaper.

Death brought back his scythe and, with one swing, launched every soldier near him into the air. But, instead of falling back to the ground they froze in mid air, their eyes being the only thing still moving, frantically searching for some hope, some salvation, but none came. With a chuckle, Death snapped his fingers and, for a moment, nothing happened, until Jennifer realized that all those frozen in the air had begun to age, faster and faster, their skin drying and peeling, their hair falling as their bones cracked under the weight of their bodies, until nothing remained but dust. A large number of the remaining Forms and soldiers attempted to retreat, but, as they did, they began to cough, the coughing turning to violent fits, causing them to fall to their knees, heaving onto the ground, unable to move. Boils formed across their skin, their eyes turned yellow as they collapsed, their bodies now broken beyond repair. The rotting corpses now formed a barrier around those still living, insuring that none of them may make the same mistake.

“JENNIFER!” James’ voice boomed in her head, “GET IN THE TOWER NOW, TIME AND I ARE NEARLY READY BUT IF YOU STAY OUT THERE HE WILL KILL YOU!”

“How much time do you need”? Jennifer was surprised to hear her father’s voice, surprisingly calm all things considered.

“Isaac, there’s nothing more you can do, it’d be best if you took Life and retreated, he may not follow.” James advised, clearly not believing his own words.

“With all due respect, I think that’s for me to decide.” Suddenly James’ voice disappeared from her head, it seemed as if Life’d kicked him out of the call. Isaac’s voice continued to speak,

“Enoch, gather any living Forms and meet me as close to the edge of the city as you can, it’s time we made our stand.”

“Understood.” Enoch offered no argument, what would… what could he even say? Helios, hearing the call, snapped from her frozen state and turned to Jennifer,

“Jennifer, you need to go now!”

“BU-”

“NOW” Jennifer didn’t waste another second, hopping from the hands onto the roof of the tower, she gripped onto the hatch at the top, lifting it up and hopping inside. The tower didn’t hold much on the upper levels, just a series of gears and the inside of the clock, down the stairs were a series of windows descending in tandem with the steps, Jennifer stared out these windows as she descended.

From the window she could see a few familiar Forms making their way toward the outer edge of the city, a single man, her father, running to meet them. Despite likely knowing what it is they meant to do, Death opted instead to wait and watch, occasionally tearing apart any human or Form that came to close.

Surrounding Isaac stood Enoch, Slade, Lyla, Adam, and Helios. And, with a flash of light, there was only Isaac, standing, clad in a great steel breastplate, a full body shield shining like the sun, and, in his right hand, a sword with a hilt made of flowers and a blade made of fire. Without a word, Isaac approached the reaper, sword drawn as flowers sprung up around his feet, small stars circled around him, casting him in a yellow glow, contrasting the red hue that defined everything else. A few yards apart now, Death and Isaac locked eyes, Death cocked a smile and Isaac charged.

Jennifer knew her father stood no chance, she watched in fear as she ran down the stairs, catching brief glimpses of the fight, her father swinging the blade in wide arcs, knocking back the massive scythe at every turn and occasionally making a swipe at Death’s exposed neck, only for him to dodge away at the last moment. Something she’d forgotten, a hope buried deep down, arose in Jennifer’s mind, Forms can be permanently injured by humans, maybe… Maybe with all of their help her dad might get lucky, might land a decisive blow. She could only hope now, only hope in her father.

The battle raged on, Helios sending her compressed stars barreling toward Death, who danced easily between them, occasionally pulling back his scythe and sending the stars hurtling away, before having to back step quickly to dodge Isaac’s blade. With each strike more and more flowers bloomed along the ground, occasionally wrapping around the reaper’s feet and nearly causing him to trip. With a raise of Isaac’s hand the adam beneath them rose upwards, offering him a seconds rest from Death’s neverending blows. Taken solely from the fight itself one might believe that Isaac and the Forms had gained the upper hand, but the dedicated observer could see that the malicious grin had never once left Death’s face as he moved fluidly through the rising adam and between each swipe of the blade, coming close to a finishing blow, but opting to leave it at the last moment. This prolonged the battle and allowed Jennifer to find her way to the bottom of the tower, at which point she turned to look out the final window;

Her father lay on the ground, his sword knocked from his hand and the shield shattered around him. The small stars had vanished and he lay defenceless before an approaching reaper, his scythe drawn and his eyes full of mirthful glee. Death raised his scythe into the air, and, like an executioner before the block, brought it down toward Isaac as Jennifer screamed in horror. Before she could witness the inevitable conclusion a hand grabbed hold of her arm and dragged her further into the tower, much to her frenzied protest.