Chapter 16

FURY follows KILLIAN and TEDDY up the long walkway to the pack’s
estate. After they rounded up the wayward park rangers, rendering them
unconscious before returning them safely and mostly unharmed back across the *Gauntlet*, KILLIAN had a brief
conversation with the GREAT AK before leaving the rangers in his care. The *Fae* had the capability to alter
memories, so FURY assumed that was what was going to happen. Otherwise the *Oath* dictated they had to kill the
rangers – the herd must not know. KILLIAN had been quite impressed with FURY’s
ability to ward off the xenomorphs, and had offered her membership into the
pack. She had accepted. It had been a year since she had been part of a pack.
After her brother JON had been killed in action so soon after she left her last
pack, FURY had sworn off attachments for a while, packmates included. She was
content to temporarily offer her services to different packs as she travelled.
KILLIAN and TEDDY’s pack was different, though. It was by far the most
interesting pack FURY had ever encountered. After all, they had a “vampire
roommate” named MASON, an ancient vampire who for whatever reason seemed to be
bound to a little girl named ANGEL, who was also under the pack’s care. ANGEL
was not human, and it was obvious she was an incredibly powerful being, but she
had no memory of who or what she was. Their pack also didn’t have an *Alpha*, choosing instead to rotate
leadership, depending on the situation and whichever pack member had the most
expertise for that situation. One of their pack members had recently undergone
a druidic ritual that completely severed her human half from her spirit
half.  FURY didn’t even know that was
possible. The pack apparently didn’t either, and now was researching how to
rejoin the two halves. The human half was mentally and emotionally damaged with
large gaps in her memories. The spirit half had fled into the *Shadow* and FURY could only imagine how
unstable and potentially dangerous it might be.

As they pass through the front door of the estate, KILLIAN makes
hurried introductions. NEMO, KIDA and JASON are here, along with MASON and
ANGEL. MASON is currently watching TV and ANGEL is at the kitchen table drawing
images of scales that are out of balance. Apparently, she’s been drawing like
that for several hours now. DOM is still absent. LALEH is in town gathering
supplies for the *fetish* she is
planning to make. The pack’s totem, UMBRA STALKERis here but seems to be somewhat agitated. She does accept FURY
into the pack, though. The pack mills around for a while, trying to determine
their next move. FURY gets bored quickly and decides to try and roust MASON for
a sparring match. KILLIAN had told FURY the vampire has mostly been a couch
potato since he arrived at the estate. FURY walks over to the TV and turns it
off. MASON gives her a dirty look and uses the remote to turn it back on.
“Move,” he growls at FURY, who is standing in front of the TV.

“No,” FURY says, an impish smile spreading across her face as she
turns it back off again. “Come on, get up and spar with me. You need to keep
your battle skills sharp.”

MASON sighs heavily and stands up, then kicks the coffee table
across the room at FURY. She dodges easily and the table smashes into the TV,
shattering it. MASON turns and walks over to KILLIAN, ignoring FURY. “You need
a new TV,” he says simply.

KILLIAN resists the urge to snap back at the dark knight. “Why
don’t you come over here and take a look at ANGEL’s drawings,” he says instead.
“She’s been drawing the same thing for hours. Any idea what it means?” MASON
walks into the kitchen and sits down next to ANGEL, then shakes his head.

“They mean nothing to me. I don’t know.”

ANGEL looks up at them then, her eyes sparkling, and says the
first words they have ever heard her speak, “The scale has tipped.” At the same
time, UMBRA STALKER shrieks and starts flying in erratic circles around the
pack.

“A *Sacred*
Hunt *has been called!” UMBRA STALKER announces, “against DOM. I must go. I*
must distract them!” The white owl flies off into the night, leaving the pack
dumbfounded.

FURY walks over to ANGEL, working off
a hunch. She points at ANGEL’s most recent drawing. “Is this DOM?”

“Chocolate milk!” is the little girl’s
only response, “I want chocolate milk!” FURY shakes her head and chuckles, then
retrieves some chocolate milk from the kitchen. It seems ANGEL is done talking
for now.

“We need to find DOM first.” KILLIAN
says, and is met with several nods of agreement. The pack moves into action,
KIDA leading them out onto the front lawn. Off in the distance, they hear
several howls from a werewolf pack on the hunt… The Harbingers of Day… that must
be the pack that has called a *Hunt* on
DOM. KIDA growls and takes off, the rest of the pack following on her heels.

DOM has just finished decimating
another cell of the BNG. Drunk on victory and the blood of his fallen foes, he
bursts forth from the warehouse building and is met with several more BNG who
have pulled up in cars and are pointing guns at him. The ally erupts into
gunfire as DOM leaps into action, his fangs and claws already dripping with
blood. He dispatches several of them within seconds – they are no match for his
might. Bullets tear into his flesh, but are quickly shoved back out as his regeneration
kicks in. He laughs at their futile attempts to subdue him. One member gets a
lucky shot and actually manages overwhelm his regeneration. Howling in rage, he
grabs one of their cars and retaliates by crushing the gang member under
several pounds of metal and glass. Another gang member dives into a second vehicle,
scrambling to start the engine and escape the fate of his brothers. DOM grins
wickedly and hoists the original car once again, bringing it crashing down on
top of the second vehicle. He can hear his foe screaming in terror… it is
exhilarating! Another member flees the scene on foot but is easily chased down
and torn apart. The opposition vanquished, DOM howls in victory and stalks out
of the ally, prowling the streets for his next target. He finds it quickly.
Several BNG appear to be holed up in a rundown building a couple of blocks
over. There is an abandoned car across the street. DOM hotwires the vehicle as
an idea occurs to him. He would smoke them out!  He stuffs some rags into the car’s gas tank and
lights them on fire. Then he jams the gas pedal with a piece of rebar, sending
the car hurtling into the building. A satisfying explosion follows.

Under KIDA’s leadership, the pack
closes in on DOM much faster than they had hoped. Their hearts sink as they arrive
just in time to see DOM stalk into an old church in the Mission District he has
set on fire. They can hear the congregation screaming in terror. What was he
doing?! Acting quickly, KILLIAN climbs to the top of a building across the
street, aiming his hunting rifle loaded with silver bullets at the entry of the
church. He is joined by NEMO and JASON, who immediately begin preparing the *ritual* to expel the spirit they suspect
is influencing DOM. FURY volunteers to draw DOM out of the church and TEDDY waits
just outside to ambush him as he exits. KIDA places herself across the street,
summoning a storm to aid their efforts and put out the fire.

Inside the church, DOM basks in the
fear of his prey as he stalks forward, growling hungrily. They flee to the far
side of the building, and one of their number steps forward, holding up
something DOM does not recognize. He is sure it is a weapon of some sort. This
must be their leader. He screams at DOM as DOM charges forward. How pitiful!
DOM leaps into the air preparing to rip the man asunder, but his attack is
abruptly halted as he crashes into an invisible wall and is thrown backward. He
quickly recovers his footing and stalks forward again, once more meeting some
sort of invisible resistance. Furious, he paces back and forth in front of his
prey, systematically testing the force that holds him at bay. There has to be a
weakness somewhere! He would find it.

Preparations complete, FURY hurtles
over the fiery inferno of the car into the church, shifting into her Gauru form
and howling a challenge at DOM. He spins to meet her, but he doesn’t look like
any *Uratha* she has ever seen. His
body is misshapen and twisted, his fingers and claws elongated disproportionately
and his teeth protruding wickedly out of his mouth, which is dripping with blood.
It looks like he has been biting his own tongue since his teeth are so
overgrown. He is in his *Gauru* form. FURY
holds her ground as he charges her, grabbing her and tossing her into the
congregation. *Well, that didn’t go as*
planned…

 Across the street, KILLIAN can see DOM’s
hulking form just inside the doorway of the church. Just a few more feet and he
could get a clean shot. TEDDY waits anxiously right outside the door as KIDA
completes her summoning. Rain begins to pour as lighting arcs across the sky
and thunder rolls.

FURY regains her footing and charges
DOM, barreling into him at full force and shoving him outside. TEDDY lunges from
the side, hamstringing him, as FURY completes her charge, locking him into a
grapple. KIDA joins FURY in the grapple. KILLIAN fires, and DOM howls in rage
as a silver bullet tears into him. NEMO and JASON begin the ritual. DOM
struggles against his attackers, ripping with tooth and claw. FURY takes the
brunt of his initial onslaught, but refuses to relent, attempting to immobilize
him. TEDDY hamstrings his other leg. KILLIAN fires again, once more finding his
mark. Enraged, DOM manages to break free of the grapple, leaping onto the
building across the street and closing the distance between him and KILLIAN surprisingly
quickly. His intent is to pull KILLIAN off the building into the ally below.
FURY and KIDA leap onto the building after him, attempting to catch him before
he reaches the top. TEDDY follows suit. DOM is faster than all of them, though.
KILLIAN fires again at DOM’s advancing form, but this time his shot goes wide,
barely missing KIDA. DOM reaches the top of the building, but KILLIAN is just
out of reach. KIDA reaches the top as KILLIAN backs away, preparing to fire
again. FURY scrambles over the top next. DOM moves toward KILLIAN, but is
stopped as FURY once again locks him in a grapple. KIDA and TEDDY pile on top
of DOM with FURY. UMBRA STALKER joins the fray just in time, looking a little
worse for wear. That doesn’t stop her from assisting NEMO and JASON with the
ritual, though. Between the three of them, FURY, KIDA and TEDDY finally manage
to immobilize DOM as the ritual reaches its climax. At that point, DOM’s body
goes rigid, and he becomes locked into battle with the spirit that has claimed
him. FURY, KIDA and TEDDY release DOM and back away. This is something DOM must
do by himself.

DOM faces his new challenger, the
spirit that has claimed control over him. BLOOD THIRSTY leers back at him, a
spirit of violent death and blood lust. DOM now realizes that he has been
deceived for quite some time. He first met BLOOD THIRSTY in the hospital right
before his *First Change*. The spirit
had claimed the human known to the media as the ANGEL OF DEATH, a serial killer
that had taken many lives within the city. The human host had been killed
resisting the police and it was thought that the spirit had fled. Instead, BLOOD
THIRSTY had found himself a new host in DOM and had slowly been gaining control
of him, influencing him over time. It was when DOM gave into his desire for
revenge and went after the BNG that the spirit was finally able to gain full
control over him, altering his mind and body. In fact, DOM had wiped out the
BNG in just a few days, and had been claiming the lives of innocents ever
since. Overwhelmed with anger and shame, DOM lashes out at BLOOD THIRSTY, tearing
into the spirit. It doesn’t take him long to realize that fighting the spirit
only seems to make it stronger. It is in that few moments of clarity, that DOM
suddenly realizes the spirit’s *ban*.
It cannot be in the presence of active healing. DOM’s very nature was an
anathema to the spirit. DOM stops fighting and focuses instead on his body’s natural
ability to regenerate. Within moments, BLOOD THIRSTY is forced to flee into the
*Shadow*. DOM’s body continues to heal,
slowly returning to its natural form. KIDA and FURY help him to his feet. Down
below, the pouring rain succeeds in extinguishing the flames, saving the
congregation and their priest.

*The*
Story Continues…

Current Developments - Chapter 15 -