[Geist] - The Last Hunt

[lslaw.livejournal.com]

Told them about the scent: Surtur's breath; stone hot enough to burn. Told them about the sewers. Didn't listen.

Krewe scattered; pack never answer my call. All gone; lost in... other things. Mistress busy with great affairs; wise, but distant. Worm coils in his Boneyard and never comes forth. Others, never close. Not listen. Garm howls, they turn away from animal.

Kiss Lily; with her all night. Gentle. Garm is surprised, but I know; will hurt her now, more than ever. Kiss her one last time, too soft to wake, then gather Nef and whisper to him. Tell him, he is hers and she his; must protect and comfort her. Must be there for her when I can not.

Leave letter. Just says, “Working for Strife. Love you.” Mistress has more, better letter; will find words for Lily, later, if I don’t return.

Leave the house, last time.

Go to crypt and drink deep from stone chalice, then open door. Step into dead lands where colour is not. Step onto silver road and follow to the river bank. Ferryman holds out hand; I turn away. Not time to cross the river now.

From the river, follow river-that-is-not to pool of death. Plunge in, swim down; water-that-is-not fills lungs, no harm. Swim down to Underwater Hell; swim past unquiet dead and never-living stone to other door.

Open door and go from darkening lands to mortal shore. Swim to brine tank and drink deep; fill my self with plasm for the task ahead.

Climb out and up and pass through docks. Sun is rising, warm on skin; dries my clothes and presses cold of Underworld from bones.

Stop now; breakfast. Last meal; build up strength. After that, head for the sewers. Last look at the sun and I go down. Close the hatch and go into the darkness.

Draw in power; body beast-strong, wrapped in blood and plasm. Nose sharp, ignoring stench of human filth and rats, I follow scent of burning stone from sewers into dry tunnels. Pipes around me rattle; steam fills too-hot air. Feel pressure on me; city groans in pain. No one else hears it; no-one else feels it. Only Senjan.

Don't understand pipes or steam; know they heat and power city, but not how. Still, understand pain; know that soon pipes will crack; city will scream and fall silent, living lands become dead.

Follow the heat; follow the pipes. Closer. Heat becomes dry; stink of dust and bad eggs.

Slink lower, go slower; stalk. Release the beast, find shadow and draw it in; become it. Slide across walls, under pipes, over ceiling. This is hunt; this is what I do.

Lurks in Twilight, blazing heat. Hurts to get close, but must. Push through, becoming Twilight; spring.

Strike fast, chain swinging. Duck in and out, strike and withdraw; heat stifles; hair curls and smoulders; touch would burn. Sparks fly where I hit, like hammering hot steel, but corpus tears. Flames lash out and scorch flesh; plasm boiling in wounds. Surtur grapples, heat tears me; slide like shadow and strike, again and again.

Pipes tear, steam scalds. Plasm spent, flesh blisters. Pain is sharp, hot and gnawing. Flame dries steam but eats away at skin. Hot air burns my lungs, saps my strength. Surtur is failing, but so am I.

Surtur roars, flames rushing up around me. Fat burns under skin, bubbling and spitting. Muscles, torn and scorched, grow weak. This is last hunt, always knew it.

I lunge, last gasp; twist and tear; bind with chain and drag down, biting. Fire in my mouth, burning tongue, scorching throat, lungs drying and rasping. Hold tight, jaw working, teeth biting, tearing; plasm rips free and slides down gullet.

Surtur howls again; fire is inside me now, welling, swelling; feel flesh about to burst with it. Bite again, deeper. Surtur falls; roars one last time and earth cracks.

We fall into crevasse.

Pulse thunders in my ears; fall seems to last forever. Tumbling, striking, bones cracking. Hot air rushing up like chimney. Tear each other, bouncing from wall to wall. Chain burns white hot, but hold fast.

Hit bottom; air burns. Spent, Surtur bursts under me, sparks and flames fly up, burn on my flesh, then sink deep, deep into bones. Something clatters on stone;

Heat surrounds me, firelight flickers.

I lie, dying. Think of Mistress. Hope she finds a new hound; hope she can not.

I lie, dying. Think of Lily. Hold thought of her as I fade.

I lie, dying, but do not die. Know not how long before I know; will not end here.

I move my hand and touch something. Mask of twisted wood and stone. At touch I know it for my enemy and heat of him flares in me. This was his in life; spear he held to defy the world. Hunted plains and forests, finding nothing he could not kill; trusted own strength against the flowing fire and failed.

Place this face over mine and heat fades; am protected as he was not. Feel now; water drips on face

Try to rise. Something tugs at my flesh. Chain has melted and changed in his heat; stretched flat and fine as ribbon, now pierces my broken flesh through-and-through.

Pull, ribbon-chain cutting into flesh until pain is too great to bear. Fall back, spent, but I can feel chain is closer to my skin.

Lie in dark and heat, feeling bones knit and flesh mend; heal stronger. Know that I will be free, in time. Will find my way back. Will be changed. Garm no more.

Mistress... Sister was right.

In time, Fenris will rise again.