Coming Out of Exile: The Strength of A Father's Love
By Moon Mistress

Chapter Twenty-Two

I am the bullgod...I am free
And I feed on all that is forsaken
I'm gonna get you
I see through you
I'm gonna get you
I Am The Bullgod
Kid Rock

The occupants of the small, darkened and blessedly cooler room hear the scuffle outside along with familiar voices.  Soon the door would open and their chance to escape would be at hand.  “Whatever you do…” Ares began.

“Don’t touch them.” Jack finished. “That’s not all that possible, is it?”

“If you’re intelligent it is.” Ares returned and held up his fist wrapped in the chain.  Ares could hit any of them so long as his bare skin didn’t come in contact with them and he could use the portion hanging down, the part with the heavy eyebolt still attacked as a lance and strike at them from a distance of a foot or more.  He wasn’t sure they could be banished to Oblivion this way but still they had an edge and they should use it.  Jack and Sam wrapped the chains around their fists just as Ares had done and everyone held their breath.

Annie sat there wanting to do as the others had done but she had no experience in any battle other than a high school cat fight.  What could she do against such powerful beings?

In the outer room Daniel, Duncan and Nicholas were led to the door.  On the table behind them were familiar weapons; two P-90s and Ares’ massive broadsword.  To that collection Excalibur had been added and now they watched as Nicholas’ quiver and bow along with Duncan’s katana were also placed on the worn wooden table.  Their vests were dropped onto it along with their rations of Nectar, water and power bars.  Behind them was another door and behind it Daniel felt quite confident were Calla and Kanan holding their negotiations which could only turn out badly for her and Altair Ain.  The door in front of them opened.

The Shadows looked from one to the other when they were not greeted by the glowing light of the fire pit.  Shadows being Shadows have no power of voice other to make the strangest sounds that no human could decipher. A series of pops and clicks uttered forth from the place their lips had once been and one took a torch from a nearby wall to hold it up to the darkness within the room.  The pops and clicks turned into shrieking sounds as Ares face was lit up by the fire. “Remember me?” He asked before punching the Shadow in front of him in the face with the heavy chain. The Shadow stumbled backward with its hand going to its jaw to rub the sore area. Ares emerged from the doorway as the other Shadows attempted to block him and Jack and Sam came flooding through.

With the Shadows engaged in hand to hand combat, Daniel, Duncan and Nicholas took back their weapons and joined in the fray.

**

“What is going on out there?” Kanan grumbled as the sound of battle met his ears.

“Sounds like an uprising…my Lord.” Calla said with a slight grin.  Kanan reached across the table and slapped her hard across the face to wipe the smile off her face. Her head reeled and a stream of Ichor emerged from her lips.

“Go to your corner!” Kanan demanded and pointed across the room. “NOW!”  So close to having Life once more he wasn’t about to let it slip through his hands.

If it pleased him then she would do this. Calla waited for him to unbind the chain from the chair and then crossed the room to stand in the corner. “Get on your knees!” Looking back over her shoulder Calla sank to her knees to face the corner. Shortly thereafter she heard the door open and shut abruptly.  Getting up quickly she ran for the skin containing Nectar and drank greedily from them.  Sweet Nectar spilled over her chin as she squeezed the hide to get every drop. It ran down her face to the space between her bare breasts stinging the one that was slit open by Kanan’s blade as she listened to the cries outside the door. Next to it was a familiar sachet and Calla tore it open to find Ambrosia inside. Starving and drained she shoved handfuls of the gelatinous stuff into her mouth.

After battling their way through some of the Shadows and upon seeing their weapons lying on the table Jack and Sam’s instincts were to grab the P-90s and so they did. They made sure the weapons were still loaded, cocked them and began firing.  What should have been the deafening sounds of gun fire erupting from the barrels was nothing more than the sounds of a child’s firecracker.  The bullets exited and fell to the floor. “Damn!” Jack cursed and used the butt of the gun to slam an approaching Shadow in the skull sending it reeling back on its feet before crashing to the floor. “More effective this way.” He shouted to Sam who also began using hers more as a Billy-club than a firing weapon.  In conjunction with the chains wrapped around their wrists they punched with one hand and bludgeoned with the other.

There was plenty of fire and oil in this room. Nicholas grabbed Duncan katana, kicked a small wooded barrel at his feet until the sides split open and the contents spilled forth. Soaked the blade in the rather bad smelling oil he lit on fire and gave it to back to MacLeod who was only to too happy to begin vanquishing Shadows with it. Standing by the roaring fire Nicholas shot off arrows one and two at time after he plunged them into the fire behind him.  Shadows shrieked and fell either exploding in thin air or sinking into a puddle of their oily muck.

Reinforcements would be coming and Ares barred the door against them.  His sword did not require fire though it was helpful. The fact that it was the weapon of a God was good enough down here to send the bastard Shadows to Oblivion.   In the heat of the fray it wasn’t long before Daniel and Ares found themselves standing back to back against the onslaught. Each took a brief second to stare at the other soon their expressions of revulsion gave way to admiration as they turned their attention back to the battle which united them.

The door to Kanan’s room opened and there stood the man himself. Nicholas saw him first and fired three arrows in one shot his direction.  The surprise on the man’s face didn’t slow his speed and Kanan slammed the door closed just before the arrows hit him. They bounced off the old hardened steel landing on the floor where their flames petered out.  It was Kanan’s turn to bar the door against intruders.  “Cha—“

When he turned to order his old Cha’Dech to defend him he found Calla wiping the last of the Ambrosia from her face and watched in stunned amazement as she reached behind her to break the lock on the collar and cast it to the floor. “You might be safer out there…my Lord.” She hissed.

Knowing each other so well they made a mad dash for the table where Kanan’s blade sat. Calla got there first and didn’t hesitate to lash out with it slicing a gash on his cheek from which no blood spilled forth, rather instead the split folds of dead flesh hung limply.  Without the weapon in his hand he reached for the small decanter and snatched it up only to toss the stopped to the floor and drink the entire contents of the foul smelling and worse tasting potion.  Calla stood back with the blade held high and waited to see what would happen to him.   With any luck at all it would at least start to turn his dead body to Life once more.

Behind them came what sounded like a battering ram pounding against the door.

Outside, Ares kicked the door twice before its hinges finally gave up the ghost and it fell crashing inward. “Get away from her!” He demanded of Kanan.

“Give it up, you’re done.” Jack added.

Before his very bewildered eyes Daniel’s Kitty turned into a wild cat.

With Kanan distracted Calla pulled flawlessly pulled off one of her last tricks of the day. In her hand appeared the dagger Ares had given her before they left. She’s been expending much energy to keep it hidden from the view and minds of all of them so much so it nearly left her listless and unable to think on her feet. With the longer blade her out in front of her, her teeth bared, Calla soundlessly leapt onto and the table to grab Kanan by his long dreadlocks, pulling his head back with such force that he almost tumbled over backward. With his wide eyes looking up at her Calla noticed the open flap of skin on his cheek had begun to bleed. If it bleeds you can kill it.  She could draw the dagger across his throat.

“NO!” Ares shouted out and scrambled to get break her hold on the wretched man.  The potion had done its job or at least as much of it as it could do without the spell being cast.  Touching him did not harm her.

“I always hated you.” She said into his dying eyes. “Always.” Dropping his blade from her hand she reached out and snatched the ring from his finger.

Holding a hand to his bleeding throat Kanan made gurgling sounds that made no sense whatsoever except possibly to him before he fell to his knees and vanished into Oblivion.

“Kitty?” Daniel hesitantly held his arms out to the woman with the wild eyes.

She turned her stare to him and at first it was as if she didn’t know who he was but soon recognition dawned. “I always wanted to do that.” Calla whispered.

“I bet you did.” Daniel agreed softly. He heard the sound of Ares’ dagger falling against the wooden table just before she jumped into his arms.  She covered his face with kisses.

Annie came rushing into the room the second the clanging and shouting stopped she ran to Nicholas who took her up in arms. “Hey, baby.” He said happily. “You ok?”

“Fine.” Annie agreed wrapping her arms around his neck. “What took you so long?” She said with nervous laughter.

“Traffic.” Nick cracked lightening the mood for all.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Jack said.

Getting out of here sounded like a little slice of heaven but there was one task left to them before they could cross the River back to the Upperworld.

End of Chapter Twenty-Two
Coming Out of Exile: The Strength of a Father's Love
by Moon Mistress
a/k/a Lisa Beth Darling
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Chapter Twenty-Three