Fisher And The Bears

by T Hodden

  “You are the Skein?” I asked.

  “You must return. You must wake me. I must feed.” The words hurt my mind as itched in my thoughts.

  “Kill you mean?” I asked. “Then what?”

  “Then I can sleep again.” It opened a mind to mine and I saw, no felt, flashes. Of memories as old as time, far older than humanity. Of the verdant lands and grand cities that had once flourished and prospered in the world that became Hell. Nightmares that had haunted this weapon for untold aeons. “I remember when I hunger.” It said. “I need as I hunger. Let me feed. Let me sleep.”

  “I can't let you do that.” I said.

  “You will not let me suffer.” The Skein roared in my head. “They will not allow it. I will feed. You will help me.”

  “No!” I snapped. “Let me die. Let me die now and you will starve to death. It ends for us all.”

  “I can not die from my hunger.” It said that with absolute certainty. “And you lie. I can see your soul. You do not wish to die. You are incapable of such surrender. You are fighting your weakness with every beat of your heart. How can you be so cruel to know I suffer and to let this burn in me?”

  For a moment, just a moment, I knew its pain. I felt the hunger for blood, for souls, for death. I felt the abyss in my chest that could be filled and the crushing of my heart as pain lanced through me. I felt the confines of a prison that had held me since the world was molten. I felt the solitude of the casket and the grave. I felt the betrayal of knowing salvation was close by, but denied. The spark that might return me to peaceful sleep was walking away.

  I felt alone.

  I drifted away into a maelstrom of dreams and nightmares until I awoke. Somewhere in the chaos I started to understand what I needed to do. I was in one of the Grey King's courtyards. “No!” I shouted. “No! Do not make me sympathise for the weapon. I mean... Come on. That is a very low trick.”

  “Oh thank god!” Doreen was kneeling beside me in an instant. “You are okay? You were... Talking in your sleep I guess. About your plan.”

  “I have a plan?” I rubbed at my head. There had been something in there. Something in the chaos.

  “You seemed to be speaking to, and for, the Skein.” Doreen said. “Then you started to talk about a plan. A way to put everything right.”

  “And we need it.” Gwyn said. “I have been watching the boards and it really does not look good. Truth be told, I think the King gets your idea. He is calling some kind of POW-wow with the other Celestial Powers and I think this is going to be way more than posh sandwiches and sales figures.”

  “Yes!” I sat up and pulled Doreen close enough to kiss her. “I love you. I have a plan. I am so sorry if we end up in Hell doing this. But I am pretty sure you are going to be okay.”

  “I am?” She looked at me. “You mean we will?”

  I shook my head. “Maybe we, probably you, but...” I scratched at my hair. “I need to get clean. A shower. I think best in the shower. And I need.... The sword. The bane sword. I think...” There were cogs in my head, all dropping into place and ticking over. “Of course this will work. Sylas wont resist a showdown. This all means nothing to him unless he knows how smart he has been. Unless he gets to see that he beat us all.”

  “But this isn't just Sylas.” Doreen said.

  “Which is why we win.” I said. “Because do you really think he would ever allow himself an equal partner?”

  She looked in my eyes and we had one of those moments where we knew each other so well we understood what the other was thinking.

  “Oh.” She grinned. “Oh!”

  “What?” Gwyn said. “What am I missing?”

  *

  “Why are we waiting?” Uriel marched into the churchyard looking furious. Behind him was the winged Overwatch angel, a visored helm obscuring its face. It was Osiris, the oldest and some might say one of the deadliest of the Watch. It loomed heavily over Sylas, pulling him away from the casket with long clawed fingers. “We have the town secured. We are well defended. We have the advantage. So why do we wait?”

  “Because Fisher is not here to wake the Skein.” Sylas said, pulling himself free from Osiris and straightening his jacket. “We are not yet ready to wake the Skein.”

  “We have a whole town full of abominations.” Osiris hissed in a voice like radio static. “More than enough blood to use.”

  “And that is the blood you want feed the blade?” Sylas suddenly seemed like he was a teacher, talking down to the dullard at the back of the class who was busy dreaming of fast cars and beers.

  “It will be spilt anyway.” Uriel said. “Why not use it?”

  “Do you want a weapon whose morals are born from the so called abominations? Whose sympathies lay with them?” Sylas raised a finger. “We wait.”

  “No.” Uriel, waved for his guards to drag Sylas aside. “A weapon with the heart of a pacifist is no use to me. It is how your father planned to scuttle this weapon.”

  “Will not kill?” Sylas smiled. “But he will. He does not like it. He does not want to. But he will. And he offers a control, a leash that we will need.” Sylas stared at Uriel. “How much hesitation did he show in his fight with Amduscias? My fathers mistake was assuming that once the Skein was bound to Fisher he could not be made to use it. He is very wrong.”

  “Fisher is not here.” Uriel observed. “Osiris. Bring me Ankh and Seraphine. It seems a permanent solution to their continued existence is at hand.”

  Osiris nodded his consent. But not until he had looked to Sylas. The Other-Worlder gave a nod so subtle that perhaps Uriel would not have noticed it, even if he had been willing to see it. Instead he gave a satisfied smile as Osiris took to the sky to obey his orders.

  “You would be wise not to test my patience Sylas. And to remember your place.” Uriel said turning to study the casket.

  “When the first sacrifice is made be ready.” Sylas whispered. “It will be the bait that draws Fisher to us. Expect trouble from his bears and resistance from the locals. But bring him to me alive. He will see his reckoning by my hand and my hand alone. Understand?”

  The Overwatch warriors nodded. They understood all too well, and were eager for the fight.

  *

  I stood in the Glass Garden and looked up at the Singularity. Doreen stood beside me and wrapped her fingers around mine. There were several benches. Ours was decorated with an emblem of the Ancestor Bear. There were some kind of Fish-Lizards I recognised as Abysmal on another bench. The King of the Other-World. Two members of the Overwatch I did not recognise and a Demon with bright red skin and a goats legs who was too busy playing panpipes to be bothered by the meeting.

  I stared up at the crystal sun of the Singularity. The Creator. To all intents and purposes: God.

  “Okay. I lived my life, so it is pretty obvious you don't like me. And this is the second sentient world killer you made that I have had to stop. So right now I don't see much reason to believe in you.” I whispered.

  “He is right there looking at you.” The Abysmal chorused. “It is foolish not to believe he exists.”

  “Oh we believe he exists.” Doreen said haughtily. “But I am having trouble believing in what he is meant to be. Trusting him. The Angel of Death and now the Skein. The Overwatch. These are his works?”

  I stood. “You don't like me, and I don't much like you. Sir. But if you will forgive my bluntness: This has to stop. Stop before your Overwatch sacrifice a number of innocents to your weapon in your name.”

  “They are traitors.” The Overwatch representative shouted. “They do not represent my brothers. And one might argue those born in hell are not innocent.”

  “And one might be an idiot!” Polly said. “Because by that logic your brothers in arms are all boy scouts and brownies doing good turns! But they are not! They nasty, evil, brutish and they have a weapon that can kill us all! The evil ones like Val had that weapon and they found a way to hide it!”

  “They are innocent. Good and Ev
il is not decreed by blood or by race, or lines on a map.” I threw the battered old story book to the Overwatch delegates. “We learn that as children. Pretty much every single book claiming to tell us what he thinks,” I pointed up to the Singularity, “tell us that. That is the kind of horrible, pathetic bigotry that has to be taught and learned and it has gone on enough. Those people in Heavens Edge are innocent. And if your brothers in arms do not have me they will murder the innocents as sacrifice until the Skein is all powered up and ready to kill. Then what will they do? Conquer the universe? Kill everybody who is not them or not to their liking? There is a word for that.”

  “Naughty.” Gwyn said helpfully.

  “Genocide.” I said. “I am apparently Hell bound because I killed an angel. I thought I was putting it in a prison. It on the other hand killed-”

  “We know what it did.” The Abysmal said.

  “If I am going to set this right, to stop this evil I want it agreed, that if I go to Hell for fighting with Angels, if I have to end a life to stop this, then that price is paid by me. Not Doreen.” I said.

  “No!” Doreen started to scream at me, but stopped as I stared at her and gave her a 'trust me' look. She set her jaw and contained the explosion.

  “What ever happens to me, Doreen ends up where ever she was meant to be before I ruined her afterlife.” I said.

  “Agreed.” All parties said as one.

  “He will try to avoid that at all costs.” The Demon purred. “But if he has to make a difficult, even a terrible decision, then his concern for an innocent should not slow his hand.”

  “And I need to follow one of the facets of the Singularity that the Overwatch use for trials. That mean no lie can be told.” I looked at them. “Is that possible?”

  “It is possible.” The Overwatch conceded. “How long do we give you before we assume the worst and raise the town to the ground and destroy the Skein and all who may use it?”

  “That depends on them.” I said. “Shall we ask them? I assume there is a line of communications we can open to your troops?”

  The Overwatch nodded. They produced a device of liquid metal that they cast into the middle of the garden. It grew into a vertical column that contained an image of Uriel as clear as if he were stood before us.

  “Uriel.” The Grey King said. “The Traitor is revealed.” He yawned. “Bugger off and get my son. I will speak to the one in charge.”

  “Then speak to me.” Uriel said sourly. “I am the office in charge of this operation. I will accept your surrender.”

  “You are the monkey.” Polly said. “We will speak to the organ grinder. Go on. Get the boss.”

  “I am in charge of this operation.” Uriel repeated. “I did this. I have the Skein.”

  “You had the glamour mask? You had the way between worlds? You woke up one morning and planned to frame Amduscias for murder?” I asked sweetly. “How very clever of you. Please do explain your grand plan. Are you going to mass murder the town or should I turn up to wake the Skein for you?”

  He froze. “Both.” He whispered. “When Osiris returns we will begin the executions of those who have no place in a world worthy of my creator. With Ankh the murderess and Seraphine.”

  “And what is her crime?” Doreen asked. “What did she do?”

  “She discovered our plans.” Uriel said. “I am afraid her death will be essential.”

  “And worthy?” I asked. “Worthy of your Creator?”

  “In his name.” Uriel said, closing the communications link.

  “A day.” I said. “I need a day.”

  “He is a little... On edge. Isn't he?” Gwyn said.

  “Oh yes.” Doreen agreed. “Will it work?”

  “Yes.” I said, with more confidence than was warranted. “It is going to be fine.”

  *

  Osiris landed on the roof of the Sheriffs Office and pulled open the door to the stairs, descending quickly to the ground floor and striding towards the custody suite. He paused as the silence of the building unnerved him. He drew his pistol as he pushed open the secure door to the custody wing and saw one of the Overwatch stripped of their armour and wrapped in duct tape to the point that he might almost have been mummified.

  Osiris tilted his head and approached the cells. Ankh was in her cell, still sat crossed legged. Seraphine was in her cell, a blanket draped over her shoulders as she sat hunched on the bench. In the third cell, where there should have been the bear there was a mop and broom wrapped in a scarf and propped against the far wall. A number of cables seemed to have been wrapped around the bars of the cell. A crude electromagnet. He followed the cables with his eyes, up the wall, to the cluster of bears, Ted, Wendy, Ginger and several others who were clinging to the conduit that carried the wiring for the lights. Before he could react Ted had shoved a loose cable into the junction box. There was a shower of sparks and the steel bars of the cell began to hum.

  Suddenly being clad from head to toe in metal armour did not seem a good idea to Osiris. The magnetic field slammed him against the bars with a crash. The bears leapt from the ceiling, already drawing out their reels of tape. Osiris tried to scream but he changed his mind as he saw Seraphine casting aside her blanket to reveal borrowed armour and a sword. As a fuse popped and the magnetic field weakened suddenly to nothing Seraphine already had her arm around his throat pinning him to the cell.

  “Hush now Osiris.” Seraphine whispered. “There is no need for your blood to be shed if you surrender.” As she spoke the bears bound him in duct tape and took away his gun and sword.

  “What do we do now?” Ted asked.

  “We stop this.” Seraphine said. “Before they can use the Skein. Before they can spill blood to wake it. The Grey King of Other-World had a good plan. If you can contact your friend he can neutralise it. Until then we seize it, bury it and find a way to protect it.”

  “I can help.” Ankh said. “Please.”

  Serraphine stared at her. “I can't trust you.”

  “You don't need trust.” Ankh said. “You need to distract the guards so you can get close to the Skein.”

  “Yes.” Seraphine said. “And I assume I will be too busy to find you after?”

  Ankh nodded.

  “We have a deal. On my honour. In his name.” Seraphine said.

  “Now all we need is a plan.” Ted said. “I think I have one.”

  “Mister King has a better one.” Ginger said. “It involves a fire truck.”

  “Oooh!” Said Ted.

  “He called dibs.” Wendy sighed.

  “Aw.” Ted said, as he waddled after his friends.

  *

  “Your partner and the Death Worshipper are free.” Sylas said from a corner of the churchyard. He looked at two of the Overwatch. “They will most likely plan a distraction to draw the fire of your forces and allow many of the residents to escape past your guards as possible.”

  “And how do you know that?” Uriel asked.

  “Because I have known the bears as long as they have travelled to this world from the Spirit Land of the Ancestor Bears.” Sylas said. “And yes, I know The King family. I know the father and the son, and have known every cursed generation of the last line of Azrael Knights. The name is literal you know. The order was founded by-”

  “I know who Azrael was.” Uriel said. “One of my own. We rode to battle together many times and conquered untold worlds. “Every one of the Overwatch here, loyal to me fought along side of us.” Uriel raised a finger. “They are the only ones I can trust to help bring about a new order.”

  “Yes.” Sylas agreed. “Though of course they are not here simply because they trust you. They too heard the call of the Skein. Just as you did.” He lowered his voice as Uriel turned away. “They of course recognised the voice.”

  The other guards gave a subtle nod.

  “The distraction will be contained and will be futile.” Uriel said. “When they are recaptured their blood will feed the Skein. In the meantime I wi
ll have men bring the first of the residents to be sacrificed.”

  “I am afraid not.” Sylas smiled darkly. “Your warriors are needed to contain the resistance we are about to face. Your small contingent can not prepare for King, fight his ursine friends and shepherd the residents to their doom. A more economical meal shall be supplied to the Skein.”

  “You do not question my orders.” Uriel hissed. “Need I remind you who is in charge here?”

  “I am in no doubt who is in charge.” Sylas said. “Would you like to know why?”

  “Enough.” Uriel stepped away. “You have your orders. Find and destroy all bears. Bring the residents here.” None of the Overwatch responded. “Well?” He felt a cold chill on his neck and turned to see the casket opening. There was something familiar about the figure within. The shadowy shape that spilled from the pale mist billowing out of the depths of the casket.

  “No!” Uriel shrieked. “By his word! No!”

  “Yes.” Sylas said, taking delight in the terror that froze the Overwatch agent as the mist of the casket shrouded him and consumed him. There was a flash of red light from somewhere in the depths of the fog. Then it suddenly dissipated and Uriel was little more than a pile of ashes. The casket closed.

  “Do you wake brother?” One of the Overwatch asked.

  No. The Skein said. It sustains me. But it is like sour milk and steam. It does not sustain me. It does not let me sleep. It does not drive away the demons. But feed me blood and once more I can sate their thirst and return to my slumber. Creator help me.

  “He will not help you.” Sylas said. “He made you like this.” He closed his eyes. “We will contain the bears. They will keep your strength growing until I can lay my hands on the main course.”

  They are bears. The Skein hissed. Do you expect the Overwatch to wait while somebody fetches a stepladder for the bears before engaging in combat?

  “As it pleases you sir.” Sylas smiled. “Underestimate them now and you will have eternity to repent and regret.”

  There were sirens somewhere in the distance.

  “It seems to have begun.” Sylas said. “Sir, I urge caution. The residents are a loss we can afford.”