Worship

**"Worship"** is the seventh episode of *The Fatal Frontier*. It was released on October 24th 2020.

## Plot

*A dark manor and darker lies are exposed, as the true origin of the Death Cult is finally revealed.*

## Synopsis

### Prologue

In a flashback, in the bowls of the Dark Place, several children led by Kyther open the many cell doors throughout the manor. The people within the cells, all children, emerge pale from lack of sunlight and torture marks all over their bodies. The young Kyther, the priest's blood still painted on her face and knife in hand, walks through the now crowded hallway, surveying the children. As she passes them, they bring themselves to their knees and bow. She reaches the end of the hallway, where the younger Shark-Toothed Man and a younger Interith have captured three nuns and forced them to their knees. Kyther approaches them and smiles as they eye her. One of the nuns tries to stand and attack her, but Interith deftly grabs her, forcing her back to her knees and wrapping his arm around her throat. The nun stares at Kyther with pure hatred, and manages to spit at her feet, "Crazy little bitch!" she snarls, "May the Goddess burn you,". Kyther smiles innocently and runs her fingers over the nun's scalp, caressing her. In an unknown language, Kyther says "I am the Goddess. In my mercy...I release you."

Kyther proceeds to drive her knife deep into the nun's eye, causing her to shriek in pain. Her shrieks inspire the children to begin mimicking her, and they proceed to jump around, fidget, and grab at the sides of their heads as they scream and laugh. Kyther removes her knife from the nun's eye, and Interith lets her go and she falls to the ground, wailing. Kyther forces her onto her back and forcibly closes her mouth with her burned hand, "You will be Her head," she says before using her knife to slit the nun's throat. The pressure causes the blood to spurt into Kyther's face, and she smiles as the blood drips from her face and onto her clothes. She looks up at the smiling with joy as the children begin to cheer. Kyther looks down at her new followers, "Slay. Them. All," she says, and the children shriek with delight.

What follows is the children erupting into every corner of the manor, using a variety of tools and furniture to massacre the nuns and Pale Priests. The halls of the Dark Place are flooded with blood, and soon some of the corpses come back to life, rising as walkers. As the massacre ends, the children begin gathering the bodies, whispering to themselves in an unknown language. The children drag the corpses and the walkers and gather them in the main hall, where they begin to chant *"Tawol Athodu Ek Erilaz Owlthuthewaz Niwaremariz Saawilagar Hateka Harja"*.

### Chapter 1

As night settles over the Wilds, Edwards looks through the iron sights of his rifle, scanning the trees. He spots several walkers, blended perfectly with the darkness and the undergrowth. Jules shuffles up beside him and hands Edwards a pair of binoculars, which he takes with a nod of gratitude. In the distance, hidden in the trees, Edwards sees a tall, looming, overgrown manor.

"That's it," Edwards says, "This Dark Place." He hands the binoculars to Jules and stands up with his rifle, "Not long to go,". He leaves Jules alone and makes sure to tread low through the undergrowth. He makes his way to the four remaining members of the troop, consisting of Benjin and Kail, Seth and Lupa, whose eye is still covered by the bandage. He remains quiet and points in the rough direction of the manor. "Few dead. Keep your eyes open."

The troop emerge from the undergrowth, keeping low. They made their way through the dense ferns and bushes, using the cover of trees to hide from several walkers. One of the Heathens breaks a twig as he rushes for cover, attracting the attention of a walker wearing black robes. Edwards spots this and moves from behind his cover, crouching low to the ground. As the walker turns a corner, Edwards rises up and swings his tomahawk into the walker's skull, almost cleaving it in two. While the Heathen tries to thank him, Edwards places his hand over his mouth, silencing him. In that second, a second walker, dressed in identical rotten robes, wanders behind the Heathen, growling and drooling. The smell of the walker causes the Heathen to gag, but Edwards silences him once again by placing a finger against his lips. He removes his hand from the boy's mouth and moves behind the walker. He kicks it behind the knee, grabs its head and smashes it repeatedly against the tree, pulverising it; with each blow, he has a flashback to a similar situation long ago. When he finishes, he beckons to Seth and the others to follow him deeper into the trees.

The troop move silently through the undergrowth, using the trees as cover to yet more walkers; as they near the Dark Place, the walkers grow in number. They come to a break in the trees, where a massive structure, illuminated by the moon, can barely be seen. Lupa stops in her tracks at the sight of the building, and Edwards places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It'll be day soon," he says. "Light." She smiles and gulps before buttoning up Edwards' jacket and moving forward, with Edwards just behind.

The troop reach the end of the treeline and find themselves on an overgrown road. As they break through the trees, they get their first true look at the Dark Place: a massive manor around six stories tall, its facade completely overgrown with vines. As Edwards looks up to it, he feels something bizarre: fear, accompanied by an almost painful tingle in his spine. He looks over at Jules, whose eyes are fixed on the imposing building. He takes another look at Lupa, whose eyes are focussed on the manor's wooden doors, sealed by vines as if to prevent something inside from escaping. He sighs. "Let's get this over with," he says and marches toward the door. He unsheaths his tomahawk and hacks at the vines, cutting them away to reveal the rotten wooden door. He notes that there is no lock, but nonetheless he cannot open the doors. He instead stands back and unleashes a powerful kick, easily knocking the rust from the hinges. He delivers a second kick and the doors pull apart, releasing a cloud of cold, rotten air from inside the manor. He turns around and sees Jules already covering his nose. He stands aside, and Lupa is the first to approach. She pauses before heading through the doors, giving an Edwards a look painted with terror, but he gives her a reassuring nod and she enters, unsheathing her dagger. Seth follows close behind, the two remaining Heathen warriors flanking him. Jules follows them, visibly hesitating. He approaches Edwards. "You know, I never thought that anything would be more terrifying than crossing a damn ocean," he says.

"This world is full of surprises," Edwards says, before visibly shuddering. "Even I am not prepared for this."

Jules smiles grimly. "Well, good to know I'm not the only man shitting himself," he says before stepping through the doorway. Edwards prepares to follow but notices something on the wall beside him. He tears away at the ivory vines to get a better look. His eyes widen and he sighs grimly before his face hardens and he enters, closing the door behind him. As the door closes, a sign on the wall reads "Saint Nicholas Psychiatric Correctional Institute For Children".

### Chapter 2

Inside, the manor is pitch black, save for the faint moonlight coming through the windows. Edwards reaches for one of the flares he grabbed, but suddenly a pair of torches switch on, carried by the two Heathen warriors. The entrance hall of the manor was once lavishly decorated, but now the wallpaper has rotten off the walls and has become infested with black mould. Seth hands the troop each a piece of cloth to wrap around their face, which they do so.

"Where now?" asks Jules.

"Up," says Seth, directing them all to a spiral staircase that leads up to a balcony. Seth proceeds forward, followed by Lupa and the two Heathens. Jules inhales sharply and follows, with Edwards taking up the rear. Within just a few steps, it is obvious that the staircase has become rotten. "Watch your step," Edwards whispers. The troop make their way upwards, keeping their steps quiet and light, listening for any source of noise.

One of the two Heathen warriors, a young man with brown hair named Benjin, lets out a surprised yelp as his foot breaks through the rotten wood. He tries desperately to pull his leg free, but it does not budge. Seth grabs his dropped torch and continues upwards, leaving Lupa to pull him out. As Benjin's foot emerges, his skin to scraped by the rotten wood. He limps away, leaving drops of blood in his wake. Jules turns around to give Edwards a worried look, but Edwards dismisses him, beckoning him to continue forward.

The troop reach the top of the staircase and Edwards moves up to the front, marching up to Seth, "He was stuck. Why didn't you help him?".

Seth gives an indifferent look. "I could walk. He could not," he says and continues forward. Edwards waits for the other to join them and helps Seth force open a large door leading off the balcony. As Edwards steps through to the other side, he feels his foot stick to the ground. He asks for some light, and is horrified at what he sees: a wide, bricked corridor, while layers of dried blood covering the floor and walls. The stench causes him to gag, but he suppresses it, telling the others to continue forward. The troop moves into the mouldy, bloody corridor, dimly illuminated by the troops already dying torches. The corridor is lined with cells, each of which possesses a rusty, heavy steel door. Edwards marches up to a door bearing the numeral "VI"; the door possesses a single gab that only opens to the side, presumably for the delivery of food. Readying his rifle, he leans against the door, causing it to scrape along the rotten, bloody floor, to reveal an empty cell, barely illuminated by the moon via a single window. He notices his breath has become shakey and holds it for a few seconds before exhaling calmly. In that moment, he feels his pulse vibrating in his throat.

The troop check all of the cells, opening them to allow what little moonlight that is available into the corridor. They come to a door splattered with blood that dried long ago. Edwards decides to open it, revealing bloody streaks along the stone floor.

"A body was dragged," Jules says.

"Not just one body," says Edwards, noticing many, many other streaks. "Far, far more than one."

The troop press forward, coming to a junction. One leads straight ahead, while the other off to the right. Seth orders Benjin and the other Heathen, Kail, forward while Edwards leads Lupa off to the right, Seth and Jules close behind. They step lightly, aware that every footstep causes the structure below them to weaken. Finally, they come to a pair of wooden doors with windows covered in black mould. Edwards presses his ear against it, and hears faint moaning on the other side.

"Torches ready," he says to Lupa and Seth. He locks eyes with Lupa and together they push against the doors. Their rotten state means that they open without much force. Edwards holds up his rifle, prepared.

First, they can only smell an overwhelming stench of rot that almost brings Edwards to his knees, coughing. While aiming, he tries to cover his nose with his left arm, but as his eyes adjust to the darkness he sees a massive shadow.

"Light," he says, and Lupa raises her torch.

Spanning the width of the entire room is a moving, puss-covered mass that begins to moan and snarl, revealing itself as a massive cluster of walkers dressed in black robes, stuck together by wooden spikes. The creature roars, the combined snarls of what appears to be hundreds of walkers. Lupa lets out a cry, covering her mouth to silence it, while Jules proceeds to vomit. Even Edwards finds himself frozen, staring at horror at the mass as it shifts and moans.

Edwards begins to breathe rapidly and shallow, lowering his rifle, unable to fully comprehend what he is seeing. He looks over at Lupa, who is beginning to cry. She moves over to him and buries her head in his chest, quietly sobbing. Edwards wraps his left arm around her, comforting her. Jules recovers and walks further into the room. "Edwards," he says. "You should see this."

Edwards places his hand on Lupa's cheek, silently comforting her, before moving over to Jules. Scattered on several tables are files covered in several inches of dust. "I think these are the patients," Jules says, looking over some of the open files. "They're...they're all children."

"This was a children's hospital," Edwards says, "An asylum." He looks over the files before noticing a large book, inscribed with the words "Holy Bible". He takes it and opens the book, only to discover that it is written in a language he does not understand.

"I know that text," says Jules. "It's the alphabet the Norn use. Must have developed it here."

"Why a Bible?" Edwards asks. He reaches the end of the book and discovers a symbol printed on the back cover: a shape resembling an eye, with a line drawn down it. "I know this symbol. It was scratched all over Haven."

"I know it too," says Jules. "I saw it in a book once. It's a pagan symbol. From Scandinavia."

"Supposed to listen to Silent Voices," Seth says. "Instead, listened to Pale Whispers."

"A cult within the church," Jules finally deduces. "Experimenting on the children sent here."

"Appears so," Edwards replies. He places his rifle on the table and picks up one of the open files. He recognises the picture as the Wrinkled Woman, discovering her true name was Sister Mary Jones. He hangs his head in respect and puts the file down, picking up another. In the second, he recognises the boy in a photo as Interith. "David Morgan." he reads. "Son of...I can't read that. Businessman. Admitted by family for...sexual perversions."

"He was gay," Jules says. "Of course. Sick and twisted, that. Bring your kid to a hellhole just 'cause of who he likes."

"We've seen the outcome of that decision," Edwards replies. He drops the file and picks up another, recognising the photo inside as that of the dwarf that injected him before his fight with the Champion. "Admitted for...impure thoughts."

"Fucking ridiculous," Jules sighs. "Who knows what, or *who*, these kids could have become. They could have been good people."

"Fuck this world, and everything that it has made," Edwards says. He drops the file and picks up another, recognising the photos as the Shark-Toothed Man. "Look. This is him," he points out to Jules. "Can barely read this. Says...he hurt himself. On purpose."

"For pleasure," Jules reads. He takes the file from Edwards. "Admitted for driving nails into his arm with a hammer while...masturbating."

"Jesus Christ," Edwards says. "These poor children."

"Makes you wonder if they really are monsters," Jules says.

Edwards hears a faint yelp; he sees Lupa, still staring at the walker construct. He walks over and places an arm over her shoulders. "It's okay," he says. "It can't hurt us,". As Lupa wipes away her tears, Edwards looks once more at the construct.

"Oh my god," Jules whispers. Edwards turns over to him and approaches. Jules holds up a blood-soaked, dusty file so that Edwards can see it. "Am I wrong," Jules says. "Or is that her?"

The file contains head-on and side-on pictures of the young Kyther. The writing, though faint, is still decipherable.

"Madeline MacNamera," Edwards reads. "Born November 21th, 2001."

"She's 27," Jules cuts in. Edwards nods and continues reading. "Father: Thomas MacNamera, State Representative. Mother: Clara MacNamera, teacher. Admitted by Wyoming State Police with permission from next of kin."

"The police brought her here," Jules says. "Explains a lot. Why the hell did the next of kin allow her to come here?"

"Child admitted," Edwards continues. "For excessively violent behaviour. State psychologist states that Miss MacNamera demonstrates symptoms of severe Anti-Social Personality Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Demonstrates complete inability to relate or emphasize with the feelings of others. Suffers from violent impulses. Has been recorded trapping and killing domestic pets, claims to enjoy it. Appears to have a troubling obsession with blood and skin."

"She's insane," Jules reasons. "Was before, is now."

"Admitted due to incident at home in March 2011. Neither Miss MacNamera nor her parents had been seen or heard from for five days. Police investigated the scene, to discover..."

Jules lets go of the file and proceeds to kneel down, his head in his hands, distressed. Edwards finishes, "...to discover that Mr and Mrs MacNamera were lying in bed, their throats slit and their bodies skinned. Coroner deduced that the process...had been done *alive.*"

"Fucking Jesus," Jules whispers. "She skinned her parents alive."

"Miss MacNamera was found sitting at the foot of her parent's bed, a carving knife in her hand. She smiled at the officers as they entered, before using the same knife to stab one of the attending officers in the neck. The child was arrested after a significant struggle. Evidence suggested that she had spent the last few days...trying to sew together a coat made from the removed skin of her parents. She had used their blood to paint her face."

"Her next of kin admitted her to Saint Nicholas Psychiatric Institute For Children to avoid juvenile detention. Empathy treatment continues," Edwards finishes. He drops the file back onto the table and looks back up at the walker construct.

A powerful scream echoes through the halls of the manor, altering all four of them. Edwards grabs his rifle from the table, joining Jules as they aim at the doors.

### Chapter 3

The doors are forced off their hinges, so strong that they partially come off from the wall. In the doorway, the towering Shark-Toothed Man enters, flanked by Norn warriors. Edwards and Jules each fire a shot and each kills a warrior, but they are two slow to fire on the Man before a flood of warriors enter the atrium. They are quickly surrounded by drawn bows wielded by Pale Men. From among the attackers, Interith, the lower half of his face wrapped in bandages, approaches, gurgling and flanked by Pale Men. One of them - an attacker from earlier - hisses at them to drop their weapons. As the four of them do so, Edwards notices that the Shark-Toothed Man is dragging the bloody body of Benjin, his throat violently torn out. More Pale Men emerge, Kail in their tight grip.

From the Norn clusters, Kyther emerges, smiling, her face painted with black oil. She looks past them and up at the walker cluster, saying, in English, "Behold...Kyther. The Goddess of Death." She looks down and locks eyes with Edwards, "*Mye'Akal*. *Weno urus awran*. Your time has come,"

"This isn't necessary!" Jules shouts, earning him a backhand from Interith that sends him to the ground.

"Silence!" Kyther hisses, turning her attention back to Edwards. "You have come to our home. Where we were made. Where we are strongest. You have come to die."

Edwards takes a step forward, first looking at Benjin's corpse and then back at Kyther. "Madeline," he says. "You don't have to do this."

At the sound of her name, Kyther's face relaxes. Edwards lowers his arms slightly. "I know who you are. Who *all* of you are. I know what they did to you. I know that they hurt you. But you do not have to be like them."

For just a few seconds, Kyther appears to listen to Edwards, and her grip on her knife begins to loosen. She closes her eyes and breathes, and when they open her face has hardened again. "Lies from *Mye'Akal*'s tainted mouth!" Kyther yells. "You will not deceive me. My eyes are open!".

"No!" Edwards shouts. "If your eyes are open, then you can see...*that*"—he points up towards the walker construct—"You did that, didn't you. You and your people."

Kyther sheaths her knife and begins to pace around the room. "The Goddess needed a form. What better than those who served her?"

"You said to me that *you* were the form."

"I am her messenger. Her mortal vessel to act upon the world. *Yar zea ap arat*. I am her hand."

"Madeline, the people that hurt you," Edwards takes another step towards her. "The people in that *thing*...they deserved *everything* that you did to them. But this...this is barbaric."

Kyther smiles. "That is what we are. *We* are the monsters that crawl in the night. That steal children from their beds. Babes from their mother's breasts. We make them..."—she extends her arm towards the Pale Men—"...Our own!"

"You don't have to be them, Madeline!" Edwards shouts. "You can be helped! We can help you!"

Once more, Kyther pauses and even appears to tear up. She stops in her tracks and begins to breathe faster, looking down at the floor. The tears carve through her face paint. She finally takes a step towards Edwards and calmly whispers. "It's too late for me..."

Without warning, Kyther lunges with her knife, which Edwards is barely able to block with his arm. She then unleashes a punch that brings Edwards to the floor. She calls out to her people. "Bring me their blood!"

As the Norn warriors move forward, the air behind the four captives becomes suddenly heavy. A bright light fills the room, forcing the Pale Men away. Edwards turns to see the walker construct ablaze, its puss and dry clothes easily catching fire. In the chaos, he looks up at Seth, Lupa's lighter in his hand, gazing up at the burning creature. He regains his senses and looks over to another set of doors. "This way!" he calls out. "Run!"

With the Norn distracted, Edwards launches himself upwards, kicking Kyther in the stomach causing her to fall. With the Pale Men driven backwards, Edwards grabs Kail from their grasp and shouts at the others to run, smashing through the second pair of doors and into another bloody hallway. Edwards looks behind them and panics as he sees several Pale Men sprinting down the corridor after them, their speed billowing their robes and revealing their mottled bodies. A better look, however, shows that the Pale Men are running from the fire, not towards them. One of them fires a single arrow, which catches Seth in the leg. Lupa rushes back to help him up, allowing him to lean on him. The four of them finally come to a large broken window.

"We have to jump!" Edwards yells, "It's the only way!"

"What about Seth?" says Jules.

"Go!" Seth screams, grabbing Edwards by the shoulders. "Take Lupa. Safe with you. Kill them all,"

Lupa refuses to leave her brother, but Seth forces Edwards to take her. Edwards looks over at Jules, who takes the leap from the window, Kail following close behind. Seth gives a final nod as the Pale Men reach the corridor and Edwards jumps, pulling Lupa with him. They land, winded, and run towards Seth and Kail as the manor burns.

Seth gives a final look to Lupa as the Norn warriors descend on him. She can only watch as Seth is stabbed repeatedly by the Norn, near ripping his body apart. The warriors shriek and laugh into the wind, covering themselves in Seth's blood. Edwards rushes back and grabs Lupa by the arm, forcing her to run with him; she struggles against his grip and screams "NO!" as Edwards pulls her. They flee higher up the mountain and into the trees as the sun begins to rise.

Down at the burning manor, the Norn warriors evacuate the building. Kyther listens to the Pale Men chant over the dying screams of the walker construct inside. She stares up at the Dark Place and smiles, before she begins bellowing with laughter.

## Deaths

* Three nuns *(alive, flashback)*
* Multiple members of the Pale Order *(alive, flashback)*
* Benjin
* Kyther *(zombified)*
* Seth

## Trivia

* First (and last) appearance of Kyther
* Last appearance of Benjin
* Last appearance of Seth
* Last appearance of the Pale Order
* The "Dark Place" is revealed to actually be called the Saint Nicholas Psychiatric Correctional Institute For Children.
	+ Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of children.
	+ It is implied through Seth that the hospital was supposed to be run by the Catholic church, but the nuns and priests that managed it were actually part of a Scandinavian pagan cult.
* The identities of several prominent members of the Norn are revealed in this episode.
	+ Kyther, real name Madeline MacNamera, was brought to the Dark Place after she murdered both her parents by skinning them alive. She displayed both severe Anti-Social Personality Disorder (sociopathy) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and is supposedly unable to feel empathy.
	+ While the Shark-Toothed Man's real name remains unknown, he was brought to the hospital as he suffered from a mental illness that compelled him to violently self-harm, at one point driving several nails into his skin. He was just one of many boys at the hospital selected to undergo the transformation into the first of the Pale Men.
	+ Interith's real name is David Morgan, the son of a prominent businessman, who was sent to the hospital due to being homosexual.
	+ The Wrinkled Woman's real name was Mary Jones, a young nun who transferred to the hospital believing it was run by the Catholic church and was forcibly inducted into the cult.
	+ The Pale Men were the product of the hospital's experiments on children, using a serum that annihilated their ability to feel pain and therefore made the experiments easier to conduct. The purpose was to create an army of perfectly obedient warriors to spread the cult's influence and take over the region.

 **Part II** | "Feral" • "Lies" • "**Worship**" • "Sins" • "Wolves"