When Mother is the maker of your Nightmare...

“Well, hello, Hagmother. Getting desperate, are you?”

Daemon gore, replete with disease, rot, poison, and corruption, fell off of me, most already burning vivic.

This wasn’t a real representation of ol’ Hagmom, but an extension of the Curse, a desperate twisting of power, trying to make a real fight of it against me.

“So, you recognize me? You know who I am?” she croaked, her mouth full of iron-spike teeth opening to cackle at me.

“Every single force of Hags led by an Annis has been led by you. Of course I recognize you.” I kicked the skull of a Night Hag, over-long black tongue protruding from iron teeth, out of the way. Behind me, nightmares screamed as they and the last of the Hag riders died to cold iron in medically important areas, while Tremble sang and Stand beat in my hands.

She was fourteen feet tall, and I was completely underwhelmed.

“You are very confident for not even having unleashed your bloodline,” she cackled, and I just lifted an eyebrow.

“What bloodline? I’m a Forsaken Null, you twit. My bloodline is pure human. Any random mutations are just fallout from your damn Hag Curse.

“Or are you referring to the human girl you used to be before you became a Hag? Because that’s my bloodline, you idiot.”

The oversized Annis blinked in disbelief, and then her blue-black face somehow managed to turn purple. “You lie!” she snarled, starting to step forwards, and Tremble lit up with a truly ominous +X hum, and she decided that wasn’t a good idea.

“Do the effing math, you mutated, detestable twat. What is a Hag with no magic twisting her, corrupting her? She’s a freaking human! I am a Null! NO MAGIC! The only bloodline I have is the girl you used to be, and whatever hapless man you ate to father me!” I stepped forwards, and this caricature of a mother tensed, stooping remarkably low and raising those massive clawed hands that could rend mail and shred bone.

“You’re NOTHING. You have no power over me, I’ve taken it all away! I’m going to get out of here, and then I’m going to hunt you down and butcher you like you deserve! Go on, cackle about giving birth to me and all my power, when I shove my Sword into your skull and roast you in True Death!”

“Hag who thinks it all a game, darkly ever denies her blame;

Play the witch, be the bitch, scratch the itch, but mind that twitch;

What goes around, comes around... and now, you Hag, she’s coming around.

Tremble, she comes!”

She was incredibly fast, as powerful as a Cloud Jotun, skin like iron, girt in foul magic, nasty and experienced and loaded up on Health Qi.

“Wail, oh wail, you pitiful thing, there is no mercy where we Sing.

Lies and delusions to which you cling, let clear and pure the truth now ring,

From the deadly light you’ll crawl, down, down, to that cold grim hall

Where judgement waits, your time has come,

Your soul of filth, of rot and scum.

Your Fate, your Doom, come all too soon

Your hate, your gloom, a useless tune

Sung to despair and long-shirked blame

At last now comes your end of game.

Tremble, she comes!”

Tremble howled and split her from skull to crotch. This fake rendition of Hagmom garbled over the missing lower half of her jaw and waved the stumps of her arms about, spraying dark blood everywhere. Her eyes were reluctant as she fell apart, and I glared at the remains.

Hagchild not happy with Hagmom, she fall down go boom.

The body began to burn, the halves tried to writhe, couldn’t get over the Blooding, and she burned away hard.

She had ripped into me with everything, and I hadn’t cared. I was tougher than she imagined, and far, far more lethal than she could picture. I literally did not care if she had a thousand Health Qi before I could start taking her apart, I did it anyways. She rent away at my Soak, Tremble and Doc tore her a new one in return. We compared DR, and my +X Sword trumped her Whatever/Adamant all the way to Anathema.

I cut her apart, and damn, did it feel good.

I took a long, deep breath, waiting, because it would not be long...

“I’m Running, Running Again...”

“You go, girl.” I tried to keep a tear out of my eye, failed as I stared there at the burning corpse of the giant Annis.

“I Think... I Think I Killed My Horse...” her voice quivered.

“The Curse killed your horse, nothing more, nothing less. If you hadn’t done this, it would have killed your family.”

“Yes! Yes, The Curse Did It. I Would, I Would Never...”

“It won’t beat us. It never could, and it never will. Run, and don’t let it punish others to get at us.”

“I Will Run, I Won’t Let It Win...”

“You have this. I... will take care of the rest.” I clenched a fist. “I believe in you! Go! Don’t let it win!”

Her cry was despair and fear, and under it, a terrible resolve.

I didn’t know her name, and could only wait as she ran...

------

It was the last battle.

My lads drew up in formation, staring across the twisted landscape, rife with breaks which experience told us would be avenues for things coming from all directions.

We had been here before. It didn’t bother anyone.

Hanging in the sky Over There was a crack in the Nightmare, swirling about with a light that came from some far place beyond Dream.

From Reality.

Dark figures boiled up from the cracks in the ground, scattered all over the place. Disunited, a horde, but desperate, strong, motivated by the Curse’s fear of dissolution.

They were trembling, because I was coming, and no matter how hard they heaped up on me, how hard they fought my boys, they weren’t going to stop us.

“Fido, Shirley.” I reached up to the huge heads of my hellpuppies, who nuzzled me one last time, before I swung into Shirley’s saddle. My Arms Arakne, the Tats burning between my belt of Marks, ignited, and two arms of Essence unfolded from my hips. Fall flipped from his holster into the grasp of one, Stand wrapped into the grasp of the other, while Doc planted in my right hand and Tremble in my left.

My Halo Crown flashed into existence about my head, five jeweled spires putting off a burning light that made it hard to look at me, ranging ahead to dazzle and dismay the hordes gathering before us.

I lifted Tremble up. “IRONBLOOD!”

Feet stamped, weapons hit shields like thunder.

“WE WILL BE FREE!”

“FREE!” the lads thundered back, as Stand began to beat, and Tremble began to Sing.

“TREMBLE!” I snarled, lowering my Sword and pointing at that crack.

“TREMBLE!” they called out, and four thousand glowing Weapons lowered, ready, waiting.

“WE COME!” we roared together, the hellpuppies howled out, and the fight was on.