Chapter 21

Torn Apart

author: Overlord - red , Veyanne - yellow , Blackguard - violet

He was kneeling in the empty hall. It was silent there. Outside, the fighting had clearly stopped. The overlord looked at his hands, those metal tools of destruction. He sighed and slowly shook his head. Something wasn't right. There was too much confusion in his mind. He remembered ..... that he had remembered things, but he couldn't recall. He felt lonely and this confused him even more, since it wasn't possible to feel anything at all. He had never felt anything.... or had he?

"Baraonda, why have you left me?"

His words were whispered without a second thought and so he had uttered the name that should never be mentioned. A chill filled the room and the shadows grew darker. The man-machine felt the coldness flow through his artificial veins.

Suddenly the doors opened and knights in white armor marched into the hall. The overlord watched and tried to remember. There was something familiar with the five men in the front. They all looked alike, identical even. And they smiled a forgiving smile. The middle one spoke as soon as they reached him.

"Overlord, you have killed our father. You have sought to destroy our kind. But we will forgive you. God forgives you."

His brother held out his hand to the overlord and smiled:

"Come, join us for the good of the universe."

Still looking for anything to grasp, the overlord took the man's hand and got up.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

One of the other brothers answered:

"We will go and get your son. He is vital to the outcome in the war with evil."

"....my son...."

The overlord whispered those words and tried to remember. Images flashed before his eyes, people running and shouting, burning, dismembered corpses and flags with a silver cross on it. More people came into view, praying, begging, but also killing. A mad priest shouted that the infidels should be killed. His father. Shouting at him. It was the sin against God that made him cripple. He was useless. Repeating the accusation, again and again.  The anger grew within the overlord as he got lost in the storm of half-memories. Was that his past? Were those real memories? Was someone filling him with false images? What were they doing to him? He recalled that he always wanted to be free, to be his own master. But he was a mere puppet. Always had been so.
 

The five brothers watched in worry.

"It's going wrong."

"He changes everything we give him."

"He hates too much."

"We should kill him while we have a chance."

The overlord roared in frustration against the weakness in his body. He tried to shake off the dreadful tired feeling.

The brothers drew there swords, ready to strike against the man-machine kneeling in front of them. He seemed to be in agony and they pitied him, but at the same time they knew what kind of threat he presented, even in this state, especially in this state.

Suddenly one of them shouted in surprise. Long shadows were creeping over the floor towards the confused man-machine. They appeared to be crawling inside his body. He quivered and screamed.

"Baraonda!!!!!!"

One of the sons of the Cruciator struck at the overlord. Lightening flashed and he immediately fell down. His brothers retreated in terror. The other knights now aimed their riffles and launched a heavy barrage at the still kneeling overlord. The machine roared in inhuman pain. The metal was gnawing at the flesh, while the skin was crawling over the metal plates. Under the explosions of bullets and grenades, the man-machine grew, transformed into an enormous monstrosity of flesh and metal parts. Arms and legs started to grow out of the metal, then pierced by pistons, plating and nails, like an abstract piece of art, made of both flesh and metal.

The overlord tried desperately to get a hold of himself. He felt himself being pulled in all directions, his center of identity splitting into fractions. A multitude of voices and commands roared in their ears. Their bodies were in complete chaos, impossible to establish and hold a simple form. All collapsed, sprung forth, died, spawned and restructured itself within seconds. And in the middle of all the chaos, the one name kept echoing through all of the minds that once were the overlord. Everything else slowly drowned in that name...

Nothing.

Like a dark light.

A white blindness.

'COME TO ME.'

'Where am I?'

'AT THE ORIGIN.'

'Who am I?'

'YOU ARE THE OVERLORD.'

'What's happening to me?'

'YOU ARE BECOMING ONE WITH ALL. YOU ARE BECOMING US.'

'I don't understand.'

'YOU MUST DIE FIRST.'

The overlord got up from his knees. His body was once again made of machine and flesh, a bit taller than usual, but once again recognizable as himself. His mind was clear now and he was filled with raw energy, ready to explode. The soldiers of the cross gazed on his ominous figure. The air was filled with electricity. The tall dark man started to glow. A couple of soldiers turned and made for the door. The four remaining brothers ordered to shoot the demon. The overlord closed his human eye, raised his arms and lit up like the sun. A short cry of terror filled the room, as dozens of human beings were instantly vaporized in the huge white ball of flames.

When the sun disappeared, the overlord looked around, unaffected. Without a thought he turned around and climbed the stairs. There had been others....

"To hell with Blackguard!"

Kendra had waited long enough. It was time for action. With the children separated from the overlord she knew that she could get them back. Their mother was no match for her. She would be in and out before anyone could do anything about it.

Still, it was dangerous and Kendra knew it. The castle was far away. If she ran into trouble she might not make it back. She called for reinforcements.

The Witch Queen closed her inner eye and opened it within another mind. She heard the voice within it chanting slowly.

"...I am of Her flesh, Her mind, and Her soul, for the Goddess and I are one."

"Ilsa.", Kendra's voice interrupted the prayer.

"Yes, my Queen."

"You are needed. Find the high Shaman. He is needed also. If I do not return in five minutes you and he will follow me wherever I am. Do you understand?", Kendra was calm and direct.

"Yes, my Queen.", Ilsa answered almost robotically but she was sincere. To her obedience to Kendra was obedience to the Goddess. She was pleased to do her part. She loved the Goddess with all her heart.

Kendra concentrated on another mind. It too was expressing deep passion.

"Oh, sweet goddess. Sweet goddess. Yes. Yes..."

"Kiri.", Kendra's voice interrupted.

"What?!", was Kiri's disrespectful reply.

Kendra became intensely annoyed, "KIRI!" she shouted.

"Oh, crap!", Kiri quickly tried to recover. "You, stop. Now!"

She cleared her throat and replied melodically, "Yes, my Queen."

"You are needed. If I do not return in five minutes you will follow me wherever I am. Do you understand?", Kendra spoke harshly and firmly.

"Yes, my Queen.", Kiri chanted with a hint of mockery in her voice. Then her voice changed to a fierce whisper, "I told *him* to stop, not you."

"Do you understand!", Kendra was becoming enraged.

Kiri's voice suddenly became soft and compliant, "Yes, my Queen." she answered.

Kendra's anger began to subside. Her inner eye opened once again on Thenna. The children were running down a hallway as fast as they could go. Kendra focused her mental control on Thenna.

One moment Thenna was running down the hall. The next moment she felt like she was watching herself do it. Something had taken control of her body. She felt her lips begin to form strange words. She tried to fight it but Kendra's power was too strong. Against her will she began to summon the Witch Queen.

"I want to go back and see my father!", Henos begged his mother.

"That thing is not your father anymore.", the temptress exclaimed with fear in her voice. "He's gone crazy. He's come to kill us all."

"He won't kill you. That's not his purpose, " Blackguard said as he melted from the shadows in front of them. In one fluid motion the Temptress leveled a kick at Blackguard's head. He brushed it aside in annoyance and said, "is that any way to treat an old friend?"

"I'm sorry but you startled me, " she managed to say. It was obvious that she was shaken by the recent revelations, the Temptress he had known could have taken his head off. He turned to Thenna and saw her lips moving quickly, whispering something he couldn't quite make out. In fact she seemed totally oblivious to anything else around her.

He knelt down in front of the girl, took her head in his hands and looked her straight in the eyes. "Back off Kendra. She's not yours to have."

Thenna laughed at his words and said, "you're a fool Blackguard. I'm in control of her soul. She has taken of my blood and through that has pledged herself to me. You can't win this one."

"That's what you think honey. And I wish I didn't have to do this, but you leave me no choice." Turning to the Temptress and Henos he said, "she's possessed by the Witch Queen. I can remove this, but it won't be easy. No matter what happens don't interfere."  He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, this one would be tough. Kendra wouldn't give up without a fight, but even the Witch Queen herself couldn't beat one borne of hell itself. He removed his trademark mirrored sunglasses and opened his eyes. They glowed like the fires of hell itself, his hands glowed with the same power as he held her head firm.

Twin beams of fire seemed to shoot from his eyes as he entered the mind of Thenna. Kendra had been right, she was in control of the young girl. But her hold at this moment was tenuous at best, Blackguard had broken the summoning ceremony and Kendra was rushing to get here in time. He drew his sword, gleaming silver in the darkness of her mind and with a decisive stroke cut the dark cord that connected Kendra to her young protégé.

Simultaneously, Kendra/Thenna screamed in agony as the link was severed. Blackguard was thrust out of Thenna's mind with such force that he was thrown against the far wall. Marshaling his strength he dragged himself up to his feet and looked once again at Thenna. The thread had been cut, but Kendra still could re-establish control at any moment. He had to act fast.

He picked her limp form up in his arms and looked at the Temptress. "I need to take her away. I need to take her somewhere where Kendra can't get to her. Once that's done I'll deal with the possession and eliminate it. But I can't do that if Kendra is looking over my shoulder. I'll be back as soon as I can." And with those words, slipped back into the shadows and took the young girl away.

And just as suddenly Blackguard reappeared from the shadows. He stumbled across the hallway and collapsed to the floor. Three deep cuts across his demonic body oozed black blood. He grabbed his head and moaned. The world was spinning around him. He began to feel sick.

He felt his arm still around Thenna's waist. He could feel her breathing. "Good.", he thought, "She's still alive."

He turned his attention toward other things. Like what the hell just happened to him.

He looked up to see the Witch Queen step out of the shadows. Her blade was dripping with his blood. Her eyes were ablaze with anger. Her stare pulled Blackguard quickly out of his daze.

"H-H-How did you...", the demon began.

"Wait.", he thought to himself. "She can see me in the shadows now. She saw me watching them. Shit!"

He realized that she'd laid a trap for him in the girl's mind. It had knocked him silly. Still, he'd broken the summoning spell. "How did she get here?", he wondered.

Blackguard pulled his hand back from his head. Black liquid covered it. He stared at his palm and remembered the cut she had made in it long ago.

"Double shit!", he said out loud.

"Thank you for completing the spell for me Blackguard.", the Witch Queen finally broke the silence.

Blackguard groaned. He'd been careless. He'd walked right into it. "Next time," he told himself, "Clear your mind first before walking into someone else's."

Kendra lifted the young girl out of his arms. Blackguard let her go. He wasn't in any shape to fight. Kendra pointed her blade at Blackguard's throat.

"Leave or die.", the Witch Queen honored him with a choice. It wasn't often that she did that.

He chose to leave.