Sacrifice

**"Sacrifice"** is the third episode of *The Fatal Frontier*. It is the third episode of the series overall. It was released on August 22nd 2020.

## Plot

*Finding alliance in one another, The Veteran and The Mute seek their vengeance.*

## Synopsis

### Prologue

As a violent snowstorm covers the land, a large mansion looms over a dense forest, illuminated from the inside only by weak candlelight. In a corridor on the third floor, holy images decorate the walls, and a large metal crucifix hangs at the corridor's end. The corridor is lined with heavy steel doors, all of which are secured with padlocks. A door at the far end, near the crucifix, is adorned with the numeral "CI". A withered figure approaches the door, accompanied by two young women dressed in nun's robes. The lead figure, their face hidden by a dark hood, unlocks the door to "CI", revealing a pitch black room. The figure removes an oil lamp from their person and lights it with a match, revealing a decrepid room with dented stone walls. At the room's end rests a bed, on which a child can be seen with its back facing the three figures. The child's back is covered in self-inflicted injuries. The withered figure says a single word - "*sveinn*" - but the child does not move. The withered figure takes a single step into the room, to which the child, a boy, suddenly turns around, a distinctive look of terror on his face. His head bears bruises to his scalp where his hair was forcibly torn out. The withered figure makes a toothy smile and slowly approaches the boy. The child begins to silently tear up as the figure kneels down in front of him. The figure says several words in an unknown language and smiles, revealing his teeth have been hideously sharpened to fangs. The figure suddenly grabs the back of the boy's head, forcing him closer. The figure then licks the boy's face, causing the child to cry. The figure grabs the boy by the throat and reaches into his robe, revealing a crafting file. The figure says a single world - "*Open*" - and the boy reluctantly obliges, crying the entire time. The figure places the file in the boy's mouth and begins to scrape, as the child's cries of pain echo throughout the mansion.

### Chapter 1

The scene immediately transitions to the Shark-Toothed Man, bellowing in rage as he throws the tomahawk into the Wrinkled Woman, landing in her chest. He begins to approach as Edwards grabs his weapon from the woman's torso and escapes into the fields. The Man roars "*Mye'Akal!*", and the surrounding troops give chase. As the troops leave him, the Man approaches the Wrinkled Woman, still alive but bleeding heavily. As he kneels down beside her, his hand goes to her torn-apart face, where he strokes her. His face relaxes and his eyes widen. The Woman lifts her hand to the side of his face, caressing him. The Woman smiles as tears come to her eyes. The Man places his hand on hers, before his grip tightens. His eyes go wide as he bares his sharpened teeth, and he brings them down on the Woman's throat, tearing out her jugular with ease. He stands up over the Woman as she chokes and bleeds, before he brings his foot down repeatedly on her face, stamping her to death until her skull breaks apart. The Man growls before he walks off into the fields, following his troops.

Meanwhile, Edwards and Lupa stand as they recognise each other. Edwards tightens his grip on his tomahawk, but Lupa opens her hand in surrender. She opens her mouth in an attempt to speak, but no sound comes out. Edwards asks her name, but again Lupa cannot answer. Instead, she kneels down and coats her finger in the blood of the trooper they killed in the previous episode. She brings her finger to the wall and writes "LUPA". Edwards replies "Lupa. She-Wolf"; Lupa nods. Edwards then places his hand on his chest, and simply says "Wolf". At that second, the two of them pause, hearing rapidly approaching footsteps. Lupa begins to retreat, grabbing Edwards' arm and dragging him further down the tunnel. As they run, Edwards tries to ask who their captors are, but receives no answer.

The two of then run into three warriors, who charge with daggers. Lupa throws her dagger, landing in the cheek of the first troop, while Edwards dodges against the wall and swings his axe across the second troop's face. The third charges, and Edwards launches a kick, forcing him back. Lupa charges him against the wall, pinning him, while Edwards comes forward and axes him in the head. More troops approach from behind them and they run once more. Lupa spots a set of steps and the two of them climb back out into the surface. They run into the Norn's crop fields, listening to the furious bellows of the tribe's entire legion. Lupa points in the direction of the hole where Jules escaped, but are stopped in their tracks by a nearby thud. They turn to see the Champion's reanimated head, its jaws snapping. From the fields emerges Interith, armed with a spiked whip. Interith lets out a roar and swings the whip above his head, narrowly missing their heads. Edwards loses balance and tells Lupa to run, and she sprints into the crops. Edwards rolls to the side to avoid another strike, and forces himself into a risky sprint as Interith retrieves his whip. Interith swings again, but Edwards is too slow in his downward dodge and the tip of the whip catches his back, ripping through his skin. Crawling on his hands and knees, he sees the approaching warriors. As Interith lifts the whip over his head, Edwards throws himself upwards, swinging his axe as he does so. The blade catches Interith in the face and the High Priest screams in agony. The swing brings Edwards back onto all fours, and he looks up to see Interith's jaw hanging from his face.

The High Priest yells in rage and agony and Edwards takes the chance to run, following Lupa's tracks in the dirt and narrowly avoiding another strike from Interith. He finally breaks from the fields, but is caught off guard by a warrior. The warrior tackles him to the ground, and the exhausted Edwards can barely wrestle him. The warrior gets his hands around Edwards' throat, but an arrow flies from nearby and lands in the warrior's head, killing him. Edwards throws the body off of him and stands to see Lupa, now armed with her bow and arrow. Edwards smiles and carries himself over to her. She fires three more arrows, killing a few more attackers, before she leads him to the hole in the village wall. She takes another arrow and sets the tip alight with her engraved lighter. She fires the arrow into the fields, setting them alight. The flames quickly spread through the dry crops, and as the two run they hear the screams of burning foes.

### Chapter 2

Returning to the flashback, the child screams as the figure continues to file his teeth. Blood fills the child's mouth, and with every cry the figure's smile only widens. One of the nuns approaches the scene and locks eyes with the crying child, before removing her rosary and wrapping it around the figure's neck. The nun forces the figure back, pulling down its hood to reveal a glassy-eyed, milk-skinned monstosity, covered in warts and rotten skin, its teeth nashing at it tries to fight against the nun. The second nun approaches the boy, who is vomiting the blood he had swallowed. As the figure continues to thrash, the second nun comforts the boy. She directs his stare to the oil lamp, which was knocked over in the struggle and started a small fire. In an unknown language, the woman says "They have decided your fate. You will not die of darkness" she leans in closer "Light will be your final test". Then then forces her fingers into the boy's mouth, forcing back his cheeks and exposing his now sharp teeth. She brings the struggling boy over to the small fire, and forces his face just above the flames. The boy screams as his gums burn away, and in his struggle the boy strikes the nun in the face. Her hood is removed, revealing a young Wrinkled Woman. The boy says in the same language "You will be old before your time".

In the present, the Shark-Toothed Man throws the Wrinkled Woman's ruined body onto a pyre, a single tear in his eye. Interith, the lower half of his face covered in bandages, throws his severed jaw onto the pyre alongside the Woman's body. The two then bow as Kyther emerges, a torch in her hand. Her eyes look over her still-burning village, before coming to rest on the Shark-Toothed Man. She approaches him and notices the single tear in his eye. Her face blank, she smacks him hard, causing him to spit blood from the blow. Kyther screams and kicks the Man in the ribs, sending him to his side. He clutches his side as Kyther leans over him. "You" she says in her language, handing him the torch. The Man hesitantly takes it, stands and throws the torch onto the pyre. The surrounding priests then scream wildly as the Man's eyes turn glassy, similar to the figure from his past. Interith coughs and groans, turning his rags bloody, and the Shark-Toothed Man turns in a rage and rips the bandages away, revealing Interith's horrifically deformed face. The Shark-Toothed Man grabs Interith's limp tongue and pulls it, screaming in the High Priest's remaining face. Interith responds with a strong blow to the Man's throat, forcing him back. Kyther turns and unsheaths two ceremonial daggers, holding them to their throats and drawing blood. In her language, she says "Fight for *me*, not each other" and pulling the daggers back. Sheathing her daggers, the two bow to her feet, before she bellows to draw the village's attention. All of them drop what they are holding and bow. Kyther screams in rage once more, "Pathetic!" she screams in her language, "May the Goddess take you all! The World-Ender lives! He defies destiny!". She stands beside the burning pyre, "Ride into the wilds! Bring me the head of the World-Ender, and a goblet filled with the She-Wolf's throat-blood! Go! Go!" she roars.

### Chapter 3

Edwards and Lupa duck down into a trench, carefully checking to make sure they were not followed. As they pant, Edwards notices his entire body is covered in blood, little of it being his own. He rests his head in his hands, but Lupa stands and taps her bow against him. When he looks up, he sees Charlotte, but squeezes his eyes and once more sees Lupa. She beckons him to follow her, and the two climb out of the trench. In the distance, over the hills, they witness Haven burn, accompanied by the screams and bellows of the Norn. Edwards stops and vomits, and is notably troubled when he spots blood amongst the fluid. Lupa places her hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him, but he throws her off. "What the fuck is happening" he says, "Why am I here?". When Lupa does not answer, he grabs her by the shoulders, "Why am I here?" he repeats, before he finally notices the deep scars on her throat. He lets go as he realizes, saying a single word "Mute?". She nods. Edwards sighs and lowers his head, "How long have I been here? *Where* is here?". Lupa sighs and holds up two fingers. Edwards says "Two days?" but Lupa shakes her head. Edwards appears shaken before saying "Two weeks?" and Lupa nods. Edwards pulls at his hair, "Fuck" he says. "How?" he asks. Lupa brings her hand to the side of her neck, and beckons him to do the same. He does so, and feels the injection sites on his neck. "The serum", he says, "It kept me asleep?". Lupa nods. "What is it?" he asks. Lupa shrugs her shoulders, then places her fist against her chest and beats it several times, mouthing the world "Rage". Edwards then asks "Where am I?" but Lupa does not respond. Edwards breathes slowly, rubbing his eyes repeatedly, before Lupa begins to walk away. Edwards asks her to wait, but Lupa only turns around and beckons him to follow.

They sprint up a nearby hill to get their bearings, and Lupa scans the horizon. Edwards looks behind them, and sees a dark figure standing in the tall grass. He takes a few steps to get a clearer look, but the figure disappears as he does so. Lupa grabs his arm and points to the horizon: the remains of a large town, overgrown by the nearby plains and bordered by thick forest. Lupa then opens her mouth and her throat convulses, before finally letting out a single word: "Home".

In the distance, they hear the chilling cries of a hunting party. Lupa cries and drags Edwards down the hill in the direction of the distant down, and dives for a nearby thicket of bushes. The two of them fall into the dirt, and listen as the sound of hoves approaches. A troop of warriors stops and searches, and Edwards reaches for his tomahawk. Lupa stops him, and brings her bloodly finger to her lips. The hunting party searches the bushes, and one stops mere inches from the two, before the lead hunter calls them away. As they ride away, Edwards and Lupa crawl from the dirt and crouch-run to another thicket, taking cover in the tall grass. One of the hunters, hearing their movements, turns away from the rest of his party and approaches the thicket, using his spear to probe the bushes. He passes Edwards and Lupa, and the girl throws herself to her feet and pulls the warrior off his horse and into the bushes. While Lupa holds him down, Edwards axes him in the head. Lupa takes the warrior's spear and climbs on his horse, helping the injured Edwards onto the back. The sounds attracts the attention of the other warriors. Lupa shakes her head and dismounts, forcing Edwards into the crude saddle while she switches to the back. Edwards forces the horse into a gallop, and the other warriors give chase.

Lupa points towards the overgrown town, and Edwards presses his legs into the horse's sides to accelerate. The first warrior approaches, but Lupa quickly dispatches him with her bow. A second warrior comes from the left, and Edwards presses the horse even harder. They begin to pull ahead, giving Lupa the angle to kill the second rider. The warriors at the back of the pack, riding faster horses, are given the space to catch up. Edwards steers the horse to the right, and jump over a ruined fence and onto an overgrown road. Seeing a set of overhead traffic lights, Edwards grabs his tomahawk and raises it above his head. He lifts himself out of the saddle and swings, easily carving through the rotten metal. The lights crash to the ground, causing one warrior to skid and his horse to fall on top of him. A fourth rider continues accelerating, while the fifth blows into a primitive war horn. Lupa fires her final arrow, catching the fourth rider directly in the chest. The fifth rider turns his horse and flees into the fields. Edwards looks back and together the new companions ride into the remnants of the town.

Back in Havan, the rider's horn is heard from the distance. In response, several Norn priests head into the caverns and into the cells. One by one, they unlock three cells, from which emerge unseen figures that let out animal-like growls. The Shark-Toothed Man stands silent as he watches the Wrinkled Woman's body disintegrate.

In the past, as the same woman forces his face over the oil fire, the other nun finally lets the withered figure go. Weezing, the figure mutters in English *"*Watch for hearts of pure deep black, when they come at night and with their teeth...attack". The woman lets the boy go, and he immediately goes for the withered figure, tearing out his throat with his teeth as the young nuns watch and smile.

## Deaths

* Pale Man *(alive, pre-apocalypse)*
* Wrinkled Woman
* Seven unnamed Norn warriors

## Trivia

* Last appearance of the Wrinkled Woman *(alive)*
* Last appearance of the Pale Man
* Lupa finally speaks in this episode, saying the single word "Home".
* This episode confirms that it has been at least two weeks since Edwards fought the Champion in "*Wildfire*".
* This marks the first time that Charlotte has made an appearance since Edwards' hallucination in "*Take What's Mine*". Her last living appearance was in the *Season 6* episode "*Old and New*".

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