Monster

**"Monster"** is the fourth episode of *The Fatal Frontier*. It is the fourth episode of the series overall. It was released on September 10th 2020.

## Plot

*"Watch for hearts of pure deep black, when they come at night and with their teeth attack".*

## Synopsis

### Prologue

In the fields outside of the town, three hooded Norn warriors watch the fields on horseback, each carrying a flaming torch in their left hand. Behind the figures, in the distance, Haven continues to burn. The lead figure takes a war horn from its belt and blows into it; the sound echoes across the fields. When it can no longer hear the echoes, the figure blows into the horn once more. Mere seconds after the sound fades, the lead figure beings to chant: "*Tawol Athodu Ek Erilaz Owlthuthewaz Niwaremariz Saawilagar Hateka Harja*". When it finishes, hundreds of walkers appear from over the hills, kicking up dust as they do so to create a cloud of dirt. The lead figure roars into the sky and kicks its horse, charging toward the town while the other warriors follow, using their smaller horns to make the herd follow.

### Chapter 1

Edwards and Lupa, still on the Norn horse, break through an overgrown military checkpoint, rushing into the limits of the overgrown town. They pass a welcome sign, but it is so overgrown that Edwards cannot read it. "Where are your people?" he asks Lupa. The mute turns to look at him, but only shakes her head. Edwards grunts and looks ahead, quickly stopping the horse in its tracks with his feet, causing the horse to welp in pain. Lupa turns and sees the obstacle: a large delivery truck, overturned on its side and forced into place but overgrown bushes. "Fuck", Edwards says "Are they nearby?". To this, Lupa shakes her head. "You said this was home," Edwards replies, but Lupa makes no gesture. "Which way?" he says and Lupa points at the truck in response. "It's blocked," he says, but Lupa continues to point in the same direction. "It's not that fucking way!" Edwards growls, "We have to go around,". Lupa grabs his shoulder and sternly shakes her head, still pointing at the truck. "Your people are in the truck?" Edwards asks but Lupa shakes her head in frustration; she mouths the word "Over" several times. "Over the truck?" Edwards asks and Lupa nods. As they dismount, they hear a second war horn in the far distance, but the dense buildings make it difficult to know which direction it is coming from. "Go," says Edwards and he boosts Lupa up onto the truck, jumping up to take her hand. As Edwards reaches the top, a second horn bellows, this time deeper and more intense. Lupa pulls Edwards up with one hand and runs along the truck and through a broken cafe window, diving inside. Edwards stands up to try and survey the area, but Lupa beckons him to follow.

He dives into the cafe and is overtaken by an overwhelming scent of mould; Lupa, however, is nonplussed. She aims to take a set of stairs down, but Edwards stops her, "What is this place? Where are your people?" he says. Lupa does nothing to answer and turns to leave, but Edwards grabs her arm, "Answer me!" he growls. Lupa pulls her arm away and goes for her knife; Edwards reaches for his axe in response. Lupa, a look of frustration on her face, takes the knife to the flaking yellow walls and quickly etches the words "SOON. MEET. WATERFALL". Edwards nods "We're meeting your people here?". Lupa shakes her head and scratches "OTHER SIDE" onto the wall. She gives Edwards an angry look and proceeds down the creaking stairs. Edwards takes a quick glance at the writing and hesitates in following her. He takes one last glance out of the window, and is horrified to see a dusty cloud quickly approaching the town.

### Chapter 2

Edwards and Lupa navigate the ruins of several destroyed and overgrown buildings, eventually coming to a blockade of concrete and brick. Edwards requests that they find another route, but Lupa ignores him and goes prone, dragging herself underneath a concrete pillar. He asks what created so much destruction, and Lupa mimes an explosion before disappearing into the rubble. Edwards goes to his knees and watches her crawl through a small tunnel of brick and debris, and looks behind him to watch as the dust cloud gets closer. He says "Fuck it" and goes prone to follow her. He forces himself into the tunnel and remembers when he was in a similar situation many years ago. As he begins to crawl, his naked torso scrapes along the concrete, shredding his skin. He carries on and ignores the burning, grabbing onto a piece of rebar to pull himself closer to Lupa. His weight causes the rebar to dislodge, causing a slab of concrete to lower, narrowing the tunnel even further. The entire debris structure shifts, filling the tunnel with dust. Edwards coughs and his eyes start to water, but he continues to crawl forward, trying to keep his vision clear. He forces his head under the lowered concrete and then his shoulders, wriggling to get the rest of his body through and stripping away the top layers of his skin in several places. He stops to recover, clearing his vision and noticing a child's mouldy skull rested mere inches from his face, almost completely crushed. Edwards once more remembers a time in his past before moving on, finally seeing light. As he nears it, he hears the distinct sound of rushing water.

Edwards finally emerges and notices most of his torso has been skinned by the concrete and brick, but stands up and coughs up the dust. He turns to see Lupa, but his eyes are met by a scene of chaos: part of the road raised high above the rest of it, with a large waterfall gushing out of the exposed sewer pipe. He notices Lupa watching the water, entranced, before she turns to look at him, a smile on her face. After a second, her smile fades and she looks despondently at the ground. Edwards walks over to her, "Who did that to you?" he asks. Lupa's bloodstained hand goes to her throat and massages the scar tissue, before baring and snapping her teeth. Edwards sighs in sorrow and says "We'll kill him. We'll kill all of them,". She looks at him and smiles, nodding her head. She then looks just past him, and her smile quickly fades. She quickly reaches for her bow but realizes she has no more arrows. She grabs Edwards by the arm and forces him off to the side, where they take cover among the debris. As they hide, Lupa begins to breathe quickly, possibly in panic; she mouths the word "Monsters". Edwards peaks over to sees the four hooded figures enter the stream, all armed. The stench of rot follows their appearance, and Edwards looks up as the dust cloud hangs over them. The lead figure raises its torch, "She-Wolf!" it yells in a horrific voice, "Reveal yourself! Bow down to the Goddess!". Lupa continues to panic, and Edwards puts his hand on his shoulder to calm her. The lead figure orders the others to spread out, while it drops its torch into the water. Edwards gestures for Lupa to head around the right, while he takes the one on the left; they'll cross over and take the leader out together. Lupa breathes deep and nodes, and the two come out of cover. Lupa covers herself in the overgrown grass, while Edwards sneaks to a gutted bank, following his target. Armed with a bow, the figure checks around the bank, not noticing as Edwards takes cover behind a table. He removes his tomahawk from his belt, and creeps over to the figure. He raises himself up as he nears, raising the tomahawk above his head.

He is caught off guard as the warrior spins around and fires the arrow, the shaft embedding itself into Edwards' left shoulder. The shot forces him off balance, allowing the warrior to flank him and use its bow to choke him. Unable to breathe, Edwards acts by instinct and spins his tomahawk around, catching the warrior in the shoulder. Both wounded, the two of them circle each other. Edwards takes the chance to pull the arrow from his shoulder, before the warrior charges at him with a knife. Edwards dodges while clutching his shoulder, blocking a second strike with his axe. He dodges a few more strikes before catching the knife with his tomahawk, using the curvature of the blade to spin the knife out of the warrior's hands. He launches a kick, pushing the warrior out of the bank and onto the ruined road. As Edwards rushes toward it, he notices as Lupa slits the throat of her target, before rushing the leader. He brings his axe down on his own target, but the warrior blocks the blow with a long dagger. It forces itself up and uses the momentum to throw a punch, knocking Edwards down and off the ledge into the stream. Winded, he has only seconds to roll to the side as the leader brings its own knife down on him. Edwards clutches a stone with his free hand, bashing the leader around the head and knocking it to the ground. He stands as the other warrior comes down, using its knife in a flurry to cut Edwards' arms. Exhausted, he cannot duck as the warrior knocks him down, kicking his tomahawk away.

Before it can kill him, Lupa charges the warrior, who reacts fast enough to dodge and deliver a punch to her temple. As she falls, she hits her head on an exposed root. Edwards uses the distraction to reach for his tomahawk, spin over and throw it into the warrior's head, spewing blood, bone and brain over the ground and turning the stream red. The warrior drops to its knees, still alive and its hood still covering its face. As Edwards pulls the tomahawk from the warrior's head, he feels a sharp sting in his ribs. He feels his body go cold and looks down. Imbedded in his ribs is a single metal arrow.

He grabs the shaft of the arrow and drops his tomahawk, falling to his knees. He looks up to see the leader, who begins to approach him, throwing its bow to the side. The leader kicks Edwards onto his back and stands over him. It removes his hood, revealing a bald head of pure white and teeth sharpened to fangs. The creature spits out "Tar na sheraf, Mye'Akal!" before removing a knife from under its cloak. It raises the dagger above its head, but immediately drops it as an arrow is driven through its neck, spewing blood all over Edwards. He looks to the side to avoid the worst of it, and sees Lupa still unconscious on the ground. He hears several screams of agony all around him, accompanied by a series of furious bellows and yelps. The white creature falls beside Edwards, and he sees a figure pick up the creature's knife and drive it through its temple. Edwards looks up at his saviour, a man dressed in torn, ragged clothing, who ignores him and sprints over to Lupa, cradling her head in his arms. She regains consciousness, and says a single word: "Seth". Edwards looks back up the dirty sky and reaches for the arrow shaft, attempting to pull it out. Another hand reaches out and stops him; the figure, revealed to be Jules, warns him not to touch the arrow, speaking with a strong British accent. Through his foggy vision, Edwards sees several people, all wielding bows and arrows, clear out the approaching walkers. Edwards gives one last look over at Lupa, who stares at him in horror before he finally passes out. As he does so, he has a vision of the Wrinkled Woman, her face torn off and the burnt corpse of a child cradled in her arms.

## Trivia

* First appearance of Seth
* First appearance of the Pale Men
* The episode title comes from the white creatures that attack Edwards and Lupa, referred to as "Monsters" by Lupa.
* This episode is the shortest of *The Fatal Frontier*, consisting only of the prologue and two chapters.
* This episode features only three main characters: Edwards, Lupa and Jules. No members of the Norn aside from the Pale Men appear in this episode.

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