With the necroscope's "great" army running to the south and leaving Jory and his friends behind and unprotected, it made this seem all to easy for the beast who was leading this revolt and controling the spirit of Jory's deceased grandma. After he gathered a considerable ammount of men of the shapeshifting kind and a few dozen zombies he set off towards Jory's grandma's house and his fort of solitude hoping that at least if Jory wasn't there...that he'd be able to gain the land and an edge in this battle. He decided to attack at daylight to keep powerful vampires out of this fight and because the power of a person who could control the dead in anyway always seemed to be slightly weaker in the daylight..but then again you never know with someone like Jory Johnson..that selfish little bastard.
To make this battle a little easier, the beast sent a spell of fear over the neighborhood that contains the house and watched as the homeowners and their friends or family made a mad dash out of the area in fear of something that wasn't even there...."Damn I'm good" he said to himself as the last of the people drove out of the housing area giving him ample time to waltz in with his army and strike. No doubt if Jory's power hadn't felt them coming then one of his little spies must have and they would be prepared to fight if they hadn't left...but they knew they weren't going to win this fight. They are outpowered and outnumbered, even with the combined powers of Jory, Kerri, and Zedd..it just was not enough to hold their ground..they will fall.
He came up to the gate with his men behind him and used his power to detect any lifeforms on this property...none...sad but thats ok. He shot a burst of energy into the gate and it opened slowly for him..allowing his men to spill in around him and take over the grounds, if Jory wasn't here then he'd start using this as his base..rub it in that necroscope's face. Though the shapeshifters, which consisted of werewolves, werecats, and wererats, were doing a good job of searching the grounds..he wanted to have a look around himself and see if there was any possible traps set for them, or maybe even Jory has found a way to hide his power and is ready to ambush them any moment now.
The zombies waited at the gate as patient as only the dead could be as he strolled into the backyard with a few close personal bodygaurds surrounding him. He could sense nothing nor see anything out of the ordinary about this place..but he couldn't help but feel that regardless...something was wrong here. He kept walking, using anything he could to try and detect anything, even small, that was wrong about this area..but he could not pick up anything..it was as if Jory simply gave up and moved on..not caring about this house or anything.
He gave up, maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him, after all he has been a bit paranoid since Jory Johnson came onto the scene and ruined everything for him. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down, there was nothing here to do damage to him and his men, this house was theirs. He took a deep breath and let it all out of his system, all of the nervousness and stension was leaving his body now and it allowed him to think levelheadedly..it never felt this good to be so calm.
"Looking for me Dillholes!?"
The voice echoed into his head like the pounding of a hammer against concrete and with a quick turn of his back he saw Jory Johnson standing on the roof of the huge 2 story house with his sword drawn and gently laying up against his right leg. How he, nor any of his wereanimals didn't pick him up with their sense of smell or power he did not know..but he did know that he was going to kill Jory right here...right now.
"Wow, you all look surprised to see me. What? Didn't your "otherwordly' power pick me up?..Heh, guess not."
"Nice trick there necroscope, no one has been able to elude me like in quite some time now. Shame, you wont live long enough to pull it off a second time."
"Really? I beg to differ. See, you may have a swarm of men all around this property looking up at me waiting to tear into my flesh and drink my blood, but I have the smarts and power to overtake each and every one of you right now and reclaim this property before you can blink your beedy little eyes."
"Interesting Mr. Johnson, I'm not sure if your telling the truth or bluffing."
"Well, you know what they say...only one way to find out."
"True indeed."
Without another word the wereanimals around Jory began to shift into their animal forms. Being because the beast is as powerful has he is..he only wants the best and the most powerful and these wereanimals are so powerful they have the ability to only half shape so they can stay in human form..but have sharp claws and teeth that can still hurt like as if theyw ere in full form. The beast watched on as they all started to leap up onto the roof to attack Jory but they would all fall back down on their backs..bloody from Jory's quick reflexes and how he handles his little blade. It was like poetry in motion the way Jory just flew from one corner of the house to the next knocking off his army like they were small toy soldiers waiting to have their asses handed to them.
The wereanimals began to use their heads a little and decided to try and distract him while some got onto the roof to attack him, and it worked. A weretiger and a wereleopard were able to get onto the roof without Jory's notice and dove in for an attack while he cut up a werewolf that was distracting him. His satisfaction of the plan quickly dwindled back down to disappointment as Jory quickly does a flip in the air forcing the two wereanimals to miss him and fall off the roof, but before they can land Jory gets two throwing knives out of no where while still flipping through the air and tosses one at each wereanimal..tagging both right into the middle of their spines.
He landed down several feet away from the beast and was instantly in hand to hand combat with the wereanimals like they were acual people..none of the were animals could really get a move in on this creature and these were the fastest and strongest he could find. He had enough of this silly game..it was time to call the necroscope out on his bluff. From within his robe he pulled out a long broad sword with demon horns shaped into a dangerous looking hilt and the steel of the sword stained in a faint blood red coloration. He studied Jory's movements long enough to witness a pattern of weak spots that the werenanimals apparently did not see and he attacked like lightning when it strikes over a lightning rod. Within a blink of time his sword lay inbedded into the chest of the necroscopejust as he was comign around to stop the attack...he was not fast enough.
"Heh...guess it was a bluff."
"Big words usually get a man killed, sad you had to learn this before you take your final breath."
It was then the necroscope smiled at him. His teeth were lightly coated in his blood...but he could see through the blood and see that the necroscope was smiling at him with a hidden knowledge of something..something that was not going to be good.
"Thanks for the lesson, I'll keep it in mind for next time."
With that he took his last breath and collapsed into the sword. He watched as his eyes began to glaze over with death then dropped him to the ground and yanked his blood soaked sword out of his chest. Looking down at the dead body of the necroscope, he thought that this was too easy..the necroscope shouldn't have fallen just like that..something was wrong. He slid his sword back under the robe then made his way towards his house where some of his men awaited him and tended to the wounded.
"I want a close eye to be kept on this place at all times...something is definately not right here."
He was expecting a fight and instead got the first kill in less then a second, it was either his lucky day or the necroscope was being sneakier then he has ever been before.
So many things have been swimming through her mind since that night. She has been unable to open her eyes to the new days because of the awesome power the flooded over her..the power that has seemingly freed her of her evil tormentor. For some reason she cannot feel that link that binds her to the evil master..and she can no longer feel that hatred she once had for the necroscope who put her into this small coma..Jory Johnson. Its only until now that the power he spilled upon her and her mistress has begun to lift off of her, slowly allowing her to rise from her deep sleep so that she can walk among the living once more. In an irony, she was so tired of being asleep that she knew once she was awake she was going to go running around wherever it was she was at and just waste a huge chunk of energy she had built up inside of her.
With the power lifting off of her, she allowed herself to open her eyes but then quickly shut them..wherever she was light was seeping in all around her and her eyes were definately not going to be used to that. Bit by bit she re-opened her eyes and her brain finally let her be used to the light once more and now she could get a look of her surroundings. The walls were made of logs of wood...a cabin. Nothing was on the walls but a window here and there, on there floor there wasn't much either..just a table and several chairs..one of which was occupied by a man she had never seen before. Her eyes were blurry so she couldn't get a good look at him, but she could see he was well built. He wore what looked like a dark blue flannel shirt that didn't button up all the way and some loose fitted blue jeans. He had been reading a magazine until her heard her moving around then he set it down and walked over to her..she didn't know if she should be scared or thankful.
"About time you woke up, I was beginning to think you were gonna be gone for a long time."
His words felt like a sound a whale would make underwater..it was loud enough to hear but it was a little too drowned out to understand..she'd live though.
"Where am I?"
"Your in the mountains."
"How did I get here?"
"You were carried."
"By who?"
"You ask too many questions you know that? Isn't being safe enough?"
"No, who carried me?"
"I did ok?"
"How did you find me?"
"It wasn't me who found you miss."
"Well..who was it then?"
"From what I understand, you were brought here by Jory after he had some battle between you and this phantom hes been chasing. You've been asleep through a lot..I'm his latest edition to the cause."
Is what he was saying true? Did Jory carry her from the battlefield and watch over her while she was out? She had a lot of catching up to do.
"Where is Jory now?"
"Hes outside, he told me to bring you to him when you were awake and ready..said it was important."
She was on his ground now without backup and from the looks of things they weren't at Jory's grandma's house...this wasn't looking too good for her.
"Do you know what he wants from me?"
"Nope, he gets more and more mysterious everyday I tell ya..then again who can blame him? Things aren't going well for him."
"Oh yea? What has happened while I've slept?"
He hesitated for a moment while he fumbled with the clothes she could wear after she found her bearings but caught his breath and told her.
"Jor's and Zedd's army fled for the south without their permission, said it was to help protect St. Louis from a possible invasion. This left Jory with only Zedd, Kerri, Scotty, and three assassins. I came along shortly after and joined Jory when I saw the trouble he was in. We knew the other army would move in knowing that Jory's defences were down..so we moved up here to the mountains where we could hide out for a while so we could recruit a whole new army..so far we havn't had much luck."
This could not be possible. How could Jory's army fall like this that fast? Somehow it did not matter to anyone anymore..not even to Jory, this man seemed to cheery so obviously the loss of Jory's army wasn't as big of a blow as some would make it out to be..was Jory's gift becoming that powerful?
"I suppose I have missed out on a lot."
"You dont even know sister."
With that he finally dropped the clothes on the bed and made his way over to the door. Before he finished turning the door knob he stopped and turned back to her..as if he had unfinished buisness.
"By the way, I'm Tama Porter..but you can call me Craig."
She didn't know how Craig and Tama Porter mixed but hey..it wasn't her name.
"I'm Colleen..Colleen Smith."
She couldn't rememeber the last time she used her first name. For a long period of time she was used to being refered to as "General" but something inside of her told her that that title no longer implied to her.
"Colleen, nice name..I figured you might have said "General" as thats what everyone here has been calling you."
"I dont feel much like a general right now."
"I dont blame you. When your finished getting dressed then come on out and look for me..I'll take you to go see Jory."
He gave her an understanding nod then walked out of the door and gently closed it behind him. For a woman who came close several times to killing their leader..they were treating her pretty well, maybe Jory knew something she didnt? Eh, well she'd find out soon enough...hopefully it wont cost her her life once more in the process.
Like a good little girl that was being held in enemy territory, she did was she was told and got dressed in what they offered her. What they gave her was a black lacy bra with matching panties, a black t-shirt that went slightly below the waist line and tight black jeans that hugged her figure well. She looked at herself in a mirror that was propped up against one of the walls..apparently her vision hadn't allowed her to see it til now and when she caught herself looking into it..she was surprised by what she saw. She looked like a woman in this getup, even with her fit figure it had been a while since she could acually see the shape of her body in her outfit..considering when she was a general all she wore was different sorts of armor that hid her body for the most part.
She remembered that she was quite powerful, so powerful infact that many of the strongest forces in Hell bowed to her..but she couldn't feel that power anymore. It was always right there in the middle of her chest ready to let loose at any given moment..but now all she could feel was a cold hollow shell and the beating of her heart against it, had Jory or the forces she had been working with taken her power? She wanted..no...needed answers right now. She turned from the mirror and flung open the door and was greeted by a homely kitchen that caught her breath in her throat and slowed down the anger that had been building up inside of her.
The kitchen looked like your typical cottage kitchen, it was small and everything seemed old fashioned, but the look of a kitchen wasn't what caught a person's attention..it was how the homeowner made that kitchen and the rest of the house feel that caught a person's attention and this kitchen had "safe" and "warm" written all over it. In the kitchen she saw the three assassins she had once almost killed calmly sitting around the table over fresh mugs of coffee while they read the paper. Tama Porter, or Craig, was leaning against the stove drinming orange juice and watching her with a twinkle in his eye that said he liked her. As her eyes moved away from Craig they stopped cold right on Zeddicus Ralh..at one time one of the strongest demons to ever serve under Hell's rule, standing infront of the sink and looking out of the window into the wilderness. Because he has spent much of his time on the mortal plain and a lot of that time was in the body of Jory Johnson, he was beginning to take on human featuristics..mostly Jory's. He was just as tall if not taller then Jory and his muscles carried the same shape and look. His face differed from Jory's only because it was weighed down by wisdom that could not be touched by anyone else and light grey hair the flowed down to the middle of his back. He wore a simply brown hooded robe that covered his entire body and even though he has turned his back on Hell and is starting to form his body into more of a human shape..you could still feel his power run across your skin like you were standing next to a huge bonfire..he could definately take her on in a fight and win if he wanted to.
"Awake now are we general?"
Sheesh, even his voice is beginning to sound a little like Jory's...if only they knew what he REALLY looks like.
"You could say that."
He turned then and gave her a faint smile. Maybe he was glad to see her..though she couldn't imagine why, or he was hiding something, but she had a small feeling that he knew something about her that she didn't.
"I tried to help you along in the waking up process but..alas, Jory's little wave of energy was too powerful."
""Little" doesn't describe what took me out Zeddicus."
His smile widened then, like he was proud of what he heard her say.
"Your quite right general, it was no where near "little"."
"For a man who's lost just about his entire army you dont seem too depressed about it."
His smile never faded from his face, instead he turned back to the window and went back to looking at what was there before she came into the room.
"Worrying wont do anything but slow us down general, so I do not worry..only hope."
Normally she'd be speechless to hear such calm words come from a man who used to be so violent that no human words could describe the terror he could bring. But now she felt like this was normal now, he had turned his back on Hell and because of it he was able to put himself at ease and focus on whats more important in life..or the afterlife in his case. She felt this same type of calm within her, she no longer felt any real urge to just rip someone's head off of their spine and drink the fountain of blood that would spray from it...had she too strayed from He'lls grasp?
"Unless you would like something to drink or eat..then I suggest we go see him."
She looked over at Craig who was done drinking his juice and now had his arms folded across his chest waiting for her answer. She looked at the three men at the table who when she came in were enjoying an early morning coffee and paper..but now they were watching her, patiently watching her to see what her next move would be..they would probably do most of the dirty work if she decided to try and kill everyone and with those cold unmoved looks in their eyes..she didn't want to see what they could do to her.
"I'm neither hungry nor thirsty so..I guess I'll go talk to Jory then."
Craig smiled and pushed off from the stove. He waved for her to follow him and she did as she was told and watched as the three assassins and Zeddicus brought up the rear..apparently they wanted to go along for the ride too. He opened the front door for her and she walked out into a vast area of nothing but nature. Fall, she could tell, was starting to rear its ugly head towards the area as the green was now slowly beginning to lose a bit of its color..but Summer still was not ready to let go so the green stayed and it gave off a very nice feeling that she was safe here...even if for now she was with the enemy..or was she?
"Jory is up behind the cabin with Scotty and Kerri, lets go see what they are up to eh?"
She nodded and followed him to behind the cabin then started on a small path that headed right into the woods. Watching Craig walk she could tell he wasn't in the woods much, but then again neither was she. She turned to see the people behind her and saw that they moed gracefully through the woods..especially Zeddicus, it was like he wasn't even touching the ground. Looking around, she could see why Jory picked this area..no one was going to find them, even if they looked really good..they weren't going to be found.
The trail they followed went about half a mile before they came out into a small opening freed of trees..but they hugged it like a child does its mother when its terribly sad. In the middle of this small clearing Colleen could see one of Jory's best friend's and another member of his army Scotty Dillon leaning up against a tree...training his eyes on a small petite woman..no doubt Kerri Storm, who was sitting indian style in the middle of the clearing with her hands resting on her knees and her eyes closed.
"What is she doing?"
"Jory is helping her develope her gift while we wait. She has become quite powerful in the past few days."
"How powerful we talking?"
"I could tell you..or you can be patient and see for yourself."
She didn't know which one she wanted, for him to tell her or for her to see it for herself, but the tone of his voice said she'd have to just watch. Standing there beside Craig, she suddenly felt the wind around them begin to pick up, slowly at first but soon the winds were becoming something she had to struggle with. The trees swayed back and forth around them and the clothing they all wore was being tossed all around them..the feel of some strange power was swarming them like a hive of bees. Kerri's power lifted her off of the ground like a forklift would bring a crate off of the ground and she hovered for a moment before opening her eyes to the world. They had turned into a pale grey like a white cloud turning into a storm cloud and she locked her eyes on Colleen. A great swell of power formed at the chest of Kerri and she threw it at Colleen, before she could move out of the way it hit her and flung her back into Zeddicus who caught her before she could travel any farther.
Just that brush of power alone was enough to let her know that Kerri was no longer a weak necroscope..her powers are now something to be feared for the otherside..especially if they combined with Jory's and Zedd's. Zeddicus tried to help Colleen get her bearing on the ground but stopped when he saw Kerri flick out a small throwing knife from her belt and flung it right for Colleen's heart.
"No Kerri!!"
Obviously he was too late. Kerri still saw Colleen as the enemy and was attacking her now without warning..so much for feeling safe. The knife traveled at her like a leopard runs after its pray and there was no time to move out of the way. Before she could close ehr eyes and accept her fate she saw a black blur of speed run up to the knife...if you could call something that fast "running" and grab it out of mid air. Standing before her with the knife in his hand..still aimed at her heart, was the necroscope she had been trying to kill up to this point..Jory Johnson.
She looked up into his eyes and could feel his awesome power flow over her like a comforting blanket..which meant he was in no way angry with her or Kerri over this situation. She once again felt safe in this sudden embrace of power which was weird since his power was based on death yet it was warm and comforting instead of cold and lonely..she guessed death was more then it appeared sometimes. He lowered his hand to his side then turned and looked at Kerri.
"Impressive sis, your doing a lot better."
A small smile crossed her lips, a smile of pride. She didn't know how long he had been training her..but the results were overwhelming. He slid the knife into his belt then turned and faced her. She didn't like to admit it to anyone..even herself, but shes had a small crush on him for sometime and now looking up into that face it was confirmed. His face wasn't as reformed and full of that old time wisdom like Zeddicus's, but he was still a very handsome fellow with intellegence dancing inside his dark brown eyes.
"General Smith, good of you to join us."
"It wouldn't be too good if that knife hit me."
"I apologize, Kerri's first reaction when she saw you was as an enemy threat..her gift sorta overshadowed her reasoning for a bit...no harm was intended."
It hit her then that Jory and this army for some reason did not see her as an enemy threat...why?
"Are you implying that I'm not an enemy threat to you?"
He flashed a small grin then turned and walked towards Kerri who was now sitting on the ground with her legs stretched out infront of her.
"Yes, thats what I'm implying."
She had no choice but to follow him and everyone else seemed to do the same thing but they were only interested in her reactions to what she was about to be told.
"How is it that I'm no longer a threat to you? Wasn't I who almost killed you?"
"ALMOST...and yes, it was."
He just kept walking..didn't even bother to answer the question.
"So......how is it then I'm not a threat, I could probably kill you where you stand right now."
"That I highly doubt general, or should I say Colleen."
That stopped her cold. How did he know what her real name was? She only told Craig and he had not been able to run out here, tell him the name, then run back in time to be standing in the kitchen waiting for her to come out.
"How do you know my name?"
"I recently discovered that I'm a man of many talents Colleen..I've put those talents to good use."
Argh, he was just like Zeddicus..always talking in riddles, no wonder the other side was having a difficult time of winning.
"You not answering my questions is not helping me Jory, I'm no better off now then I was when I was unconcious."
He helped Kerri to her feet then brushed her off. Her eyes returned to their normal color and her power went into a seclusion..Kerri didn't want Colleen to be able to sense her power.
"Sometime while you were unconcious I, like Kerri and Zedd, tried to wake you of your slumber. What I got instead is glimpses of your soul, these glimpses told me who you are."
"You got to my soul because its tied to the dead right?"
"Yes, since my power is based on Death..its only natural that when I see into a person's body all I see is their souls. The glimpses also showed me that your ties to the enemy have been severed..either because of my sudden rush of power destroyed the link or the enemy knew that you were beginning to be no match for me, however way you'll have it that link is gone hence you are no longer a threat us..which partially why your not dead."
"I too caught glimpses of your soul Colleen and Jory speaks the truth, the reason your chest feels so empty and cold is because the warmth and hatred that filled it was suddenly gone and left nothing behind."
She turned and looked at Kerri and even with her hiding her power Colleen could feel that this was one bitch you did not want to fuck with now, the looks on everyone's faces whenever they looked at her told you the same thing..even when she wasn't as powerful as she had just felt her been.
"Partially? Theres more then reason that I get the honor of being able to stand here infront of you?"
"Flattering Colleen, yes there is."
"Can you tell me?"
"You caught me in a good mood Colleen..of course I will."
He said it in a joking tone that meant he was going to anyways..she was just being stubborn and asking too many questions, she'd try and be quiet.
"As you may know Colleen, my army has..well..for lack of a better term..desserted me to defend their home down south in St.Louis. Now I cant say I blame them for wanting to keep their territory safe, but I can say that I'm very dissapointed in them. So close were we to finishing this war so that they could then go home and NOT defend it..but their emotions got in the way and now I stand infront of you today a man with only the services of 7 soldiers with special and amazing talents against an army that makes all the human armies of the world look like a tiny ant. Now I know I will not be able to amass a huge enough army that can outnumber the other..thats impossible, what I do need though is an army that can outwit and outlast the compition..I need men and women who can give me the knowledge and strengh that is needed to win this war..and you are my key to that."
A big heap swelling of nervousness began to knaw at her stomach as he said his words, the way he was going with this conversation made it sound like he wanted her to switch sides..join him and help him rebuild a powerful enough army to take down the other..what a turn of fate.
"I saw your soul Colleen. Kerri, Zedd, and myself saw and know what your capable of. We know you dont feel powerful now but that will change..and we know you have connections that can help us get back on the road we were once on."
"What if I dont want to? What if I want to stay on the side I'm on?"
Zeddicus and his assassins closed in on me at that moment with Kerri, Craig, and now Scotty backing them up...weapons ready to be drawn. She watched Jory as he tightened his grip on Kerri's throwing knife then drew it back out of his belt.
"Then I'm afraid Colleen...that your journey will end here."
She looked up into those dark brown eyes and saw only the coldness a person gets when they have accepted their fate as a person who must kill to survive, she could see that Jory would like her services..but wouldn't hesitate to kill her also..the mark of a true leader.
"Will you accept the offer? I doubt the other army would want to take you back anyway..look how they left you in your time of need, not even wanting to comfort you with the warmth in your chest that kept you going. I promise if you accept, you will not regret the offer."
Somewhere in her heart she felt that her place was not leading the army of Hell, but standing side by side with these 7 brave people to keep life safe. These 7 people had more feeling..more everything in them then she and her minions ever did and seeing this made her realize that she was missing out on more then she could have ever imagined..this is where she needed to be.
"You can cool your heels guys..I'll help you."
A look of relief danced along the faces of the others as they looked at her. Jory gave her a small smile then held out his hand.
"Welcome to the club Colleen, we've got a lot of work to do."
She smiled and took his hand. His hand was huge so it made hers disappear from sight but she still gave him the firmest handshake she could muster. His smile suddenly faded and he was brought down to a knee by some force that made him tremble..she could feel it through his handshake and whatever it was that went through him was powerful enough to even drop her to her knees. Kerri and Zeddicus were quick to join Jory at his side but careful not to touch him after what they saw it do to Colleen.
"What happened?"
"My power has returned to me from my grandma's house."
"I'll say so..that was just plain awesome..what was that?"