Pre-Edit Count – 1,726 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: New Divide by Linkin Park

Previously:

It is time.

Now:

The eternally bright skies darken for the first in their history as the fates of the universe are being determined between two men who could be brothers in appearance.

However, the eye would lie in telling you who is the elder and who the upstart. Well, at least to the general public.  The younger of the two is older than any could imagine while the older one is only a thousand years old.

The swords in their hands reflect the lightning that slashes across the sky, the world reacting to its maker’s emotions.  The younger one is standing there confident, not caring about anything other than his own thoughts.

He is considering what he needs to do, and reluctantly concludes he cannot maim the upstart in front of him.  He didn’t want to think of what his daughter would do to him if he did. No, he has too much planned to deal with her being upset that he has crippled her mate. So, sighing, he decides the course of the battle, never imagining that it would not do as he wishes.

On the other side, Eric is quickly sizing up his opponent and realizing that the idiot has no idea how to fight a battle.  Oh don’t get him wrong, Lucifer handles his sword as a master.  Nevertheless, his whole demeanor and cockiness shows he never fought for his life before while Eric had fought for his life in many battles before he ever became a vampire.  Since becoming a vampire, he has only perfected his skills as much as possible to survive the cut-throat world he had been brought into.

His thousand years is a testament to how well he has learned that lesson.

This knowledge gives him the boost to have him smirking at the immortal in front of him.  That is the last thing that anyone sees.  The two explode into action, Eric moving at the same time as Lucifer, meeting him in the middle as a clash of swords with lightning striking the dome at the same moment.

Standing behind the dome, Sookie rolls her eyes yet again at the flashiness of her father.  He shows his maturity level with the showing off he is doing.

Sookie has no idea what to think of the man who had wanted her and then caused her to come into being.  His actions, his very thoughts are so chaotic that she is amazed he can get anything done.  It is as if he is thinking of everything at once.

Then there is the absolute conviction of his feeling towards her.  There is seriously nothing but a paternal love and pride in her.  This…God has never seen her before, but yet he is prouder of her than anyone besides Eric and Warlow.

She doesn’t know what to make of it all.  So she sits here and thinks of everything while she watches the two act out the battle in her mind.

However, Sookie cannot help the smile as she watches as Eric quickly schools her father in learning this is not a battle that he will easily win just because he wishes it so.  No, the young God is thoroughly shocked as he finds that the battle he imagined in his head is not what he is fighting.

“How?” is the first word since the swords clashed that the armies watching them hears.

Eric smirks at the young man crossing blades with him, “You don’t think you are the only God out there, do you?”

A couple of quick moves have them dancing across the space until they pause waiting for the other to make the mistake for them to capitalize on.

“You are not one of us!” Lucifer angrily asserts at the warrior before him.

A quick exchange happens then as Eric catches Lucifer’s sword upon his, and he chuckles. “No, but my grandfather is, and my Mating with Sookie gave me the needed boost to be an equal with you.  Did you forget what happens when True Soul Mates completely join?”  Throwing him back with a wrist of his wrist, Eric looks at his shocked opponent across the space between them, “We become equals. In. Every. Way.”

With a growl at how could he had forgotten that little gem, Lucifer counters that claim, “No matter.  This may take a little longer than I wanted, and not have the exact outcome, but I am older.  I will win.” He is definite that there is no way that this can end any other way.  He is the first, and the universe will not have him lose.

The two explode into movement which few can follow.  The sounds of their swords meeting and clashing almost a continuous sound ringing out on the field.

Sookie is one of the few who follow all the movements in the dome as she waits for Eric to be victorious.  For to her, that is the only solution that makes sense.  That short repartee between the two had settled the battle in her mind.

Unfortunately, while Sookie and Eric’s forces are holding, Lucifer’s are not as well trained.  Not knowing the real identity of their leader, some of his generals fear the outcome.  Therefore, they determine that while the Viking is occupied, they will attack.  Hopefully, they save their beloved prince from being defeated and eaten by the vampire fighting him.

A signal passes through them all, and they attack the forces that unknown to them were once their allies.

Warlow sighs as he sees it happen, then turns to his general, “You know what to do?” He had hoped that it would not deteriorate into this mess about to happen, but he needs to go to Sookie to help her.

At her nod, he advises her, “I will be beside Sookie as planned.  Send the messengers to us there.  If something happens, Sookie will let you know.”  And with that he is gone.

Godric shakes his head sadly at the loss of life that is coming that had been entirely avoidable.  Shadoe tells him, just as morose, “The folly of war.  Someone always thinks they know better.  They are attacking to save their prince, not knowing that he has been replaced by a madman.”  Sighing he turns to his friend. “Come. It is time to tell the others that it is time.”

With that, the two disappear from the field, enacting one of the High Kings backup battle plans.

Looking out on the war that has erupted on the fields below, Sookie shakes her head.  “This is insane.  Is there any way we can stop this?” She asks of Warlow when he appears by her side.

Reaching out and putting his hand on her shoulder, Warlow watches the Fae being slaughtered by their forces when they refuse to surrender.  “No.  They are fighting for what they think is right.  Behold the real tragedy of war.  The innocents pay the price.” He watches it all, upset that they are fighting for someone who is long gone.

Sookie stares out at the madness and then turns her attention back to the fight between her father and her mate.  Lucifer is bleeding in a few places, Eric winning first blood.  However, her father is no playboy; Eric is also bleeding as well.  Only the power of healing that every vampire has saved him. His own abilities had ratcheted up exponentially with their mating.

She snorts thinking of how he had been so thankful it had been one of the gifts she had received as well.

Her eyes turn back to the war all around of them.  It is indeed senseless even to her relatively inexperienced eyes.  The Fae are weaker than their forces, not being on their home world in all these years and weak from the loss of being away from it so much longer than the rest of them.  Also, the forces against them are chosen specifically to be stronger than the Fae, exploiting their weaknesses.

Eric had been determined that he would lose as little of his command as possible to the mistakes of others.  His battle plan had been to engage Lucifer in one-on-one battle. He had accomplished that part of his plan.

The second one had prepared for the other side attacking them.  Therefore, when they had lined up, it had been strength to weakness on the other side.  And it shows with their forces still there, mostly unharmed.

Any wounds that are considered bad are to have the fighter removed and sent back to the home world.  If it became too many from that section, the reserves would transfer into their place.  From what Sookie could see, hardly any of those down below have had any in their command transported out.

She turns her head to the fight again in the dome and she growls out as she sees her father grow angry and start to pull underhanded attacks.  Giving Eric the chance to finish the fight, she barely holds herself there.

However, when lightning crashes against the dome and, rather than displacing around the dome it almost strikes Eric, Sookie has had enough.

She appears in time to block her father’s strike and to redirect the lightning that he had used to be his backup into the ground.  She growls at him, her eyes glowing with her rage at him cheating.

The three of them jump apart, Lucifer facing the two of them. “The two of you?” He shrugs. “It makes no difference.  I will defeat you both.  And when I do, you will take your place with me in showing this universe that the chosen ones are meant to rule.  I tried it one-way last time, but with the two of you, we can take care of the riff raff left.” He stands there, smirking on how this is all going to work out for him.

Sookie just laughs at him.  “The riff-raff as you called them that is currently wiping the field of your forces?  All beings are equal, Lucifer.  It is time for you to give up the childish ideas.” She has her Sais ready, her katana loose in its sheath in case she needs it.

He snarls at his daughter. “Never!! The Creator gave unto me our race!! His firstborn God, the one he kept with him for eternities!  To allow any to be thought as equal to his chosen race is blasphemous to he who made us all!  I am correcting the mistake that was made!”  With that, he flies at his daughter, ready to teach her her place.

Eric smirks, watching the God find out what he had wrought when he had made his daughter be like him.  She is truly his equal in every way and Lucifer will have none to blame but himself in the end.

With lightning in one hand and his sword in the other, he moves to smite his daughter, only to be shocked when she meets his attack with her own powers.  The clash they make rocks the world to its foundation.

The two strain then Sookie takes one of the Sais she had blocked her father’s strike with and twists it, ripping the sword out of his hand.  With a roar at her impudence, Lucifer just calls the sword back to his hand.

The two erupt into a faster set of blows, Sookie’s katana appearing in her own hand as she blocks her father’s strikes, ignoring the pyrotechnics that are happening around them as the dome falls in his rage.

Eric soon turns his attention to the battle raging around them and, with a glance at his mate, takes off to end it before too many more of the Fae are killed.

Sookie has this handled.

The two combatants are soon moving so fast that they are only seen in between blinks.  Without the dome to hold them in the field, they are seen around the battlefield, flashing in and out of view.

With the lightning and now the air seeming to scream against the battle, the forces are soon retreating to prevent their own lives from being taken by the elements, watching in complete as the two gods fight.

After a series of lightning strikes cause a field to become barren, the ashes making the air itself gray, the two armies are forced further apart as the father and daughter continue their battle.

Eric is soon standing with his broadsword out resting point down as he watches his mate, one of two who could see the fight: every move, strike, and parry.  He stands immobile to the forces whipping the air into a frenzy, awaiting the victory of his lover, his mate, his everything.

When the two meet in the middle of the torn apart ground, saturated with the blood of the fallen, there is a flash of light as the sky let loose its anger.  The resulting pyrotechnic display blinds all of them.  It is only the absence of sound that alerts them to the battle’s conclusion.

They all wait to see who the victor is, the universe itself seeming to hold its breath while the rain pours from the sky to mourn the loss of one of the Gods.

Final count: 2,233

Fairfarren~