The night air crackled with tension as Katherine wiped blood from her nose, her body still trembling from the massive compulsion she'd unleashed.
The trees around her stood fractured and broken from the power she used moments ago.
"Impressive," came a cold voice from the darkness. "I didn't know you had developed such... interesting abilities."
Skögul emerged from the shadows, her tall form cutting an imposing silhouette against the night sky.
Moonlight gleamed off her blonde braids, each interwoven with small bone fragments - trophies from past kills.
Katherine straightened, masking her exhaustion with practiced nonchalance. "I've had five centuries to evolve. What's your excuse for still being Klaus's errand girl?"
Skögul's eyes flashed with emerald fire. "As I said before, I serve Hela once more. My time with the Wolf was... educational."
"Educational?" Katherine laughed, circling slowly to buy time for recovery. "Is that what you call being his punching bag for five centuries? Tell me, did he make you beg before each beating, or did you learn to anticipate his moods?"
Skögul's jaw tightened, a muscle twitching beneath her skin. "You know nothing of my suffering. Suffering you caused when you ran."
"Always someone else's fault, isn't it?" Katherine taunted, her fingers elongating into claws as she spoke. "First Odin's, then Klaus's, now mine. Poor little Valkyrie, never responsible for her own failures."
With a primal scream, Skögul lunged forward, her body becoming a blur. Katherine pivoted on her back foot, torso twisting away from the attack. The Valkyrie's fist cracked the tree behind where Katherine had stood, sending splinters exploding outward.
Katherine countered immediately, claws slashing across Skögul's back. The Valkyrie hissed but seemed to relish the pain, her lips curling into a disturbing smile as blood seeped through her clothing.
"First blood to you," Skögul acknowledged, rolling her shoulders. "It's been too long since I've tasted my own."
Emerald light began to shimmer around her body, coalescing into segments of armor that materialized piece by piece - greaves, breastplate, vambraces, each appearing with a flash of green energy until she stood fully armored, her form radiating malevolent light.
"How theatrical," Katherine commented dryly, though her eyes betrayed concern. "Compensating for something?"
Skögul's only response was attacking - a devastating combination of strikes that forced Katherine into defense.
The vampire weaved between blows, using her agility to avoid direct hits, but the sheer power behind each of Skögul's attacks made even near-misses dangerous.
Katherine feinted left, then dropped low, sweeping her leg in an arc that should have taken Skögul's feet from under her. Instead, the Valkyrie leapt over the attack and countered with a downward strike that Katherine barely avoided.
"You run well," Skögul observed, her armor glowing brighter with her excitement. "Five centuries of practice, I suppose. Always fleeing, never standing your ground."
Katherine's eyes darkened, veins appearing beneath them. "I'm still alive, aren't I? More than I can say for those who stood against Klaus."
"Alive?" Skögul laughed, the sound like breaking glass. "You call this living? Scurrying from shadow to shadow, latching onto one thing after another for protection?" She advanced steadily, her movements becoming more predatory. "I've know you, Katerina. You've probably decided to latch onto the boy as well, the minute you caught sight of him. Little whore that you are."
Katherine's composure cracked momentarily - just enough for Skögul to exploit.
The Valkyrie surged forward, her armored fist connecting with Katherine's sternum, causing Katherine to spit out blood, the impact sending her hurtling backward, crashing through three trees before coming to rest in a crater of her own making.
Pain blossomed across Katherine's chest as she struggled to rise, spitting more blood onto the forest floor. Her ribs had shattered on impact and were slowly knitting back together, each second of healing an agony of its own.
Skögul approached leisurely, savoring the moment. "When I bring your head to my queen, I'll tell her how you begged at the end. How the great survivor finally ran out of places to hide."
"Speaking of your queen," Katherine rasped, buying time as her body healed. "Hela. How is the half-rotted bitch these days? Still bitter about being daddy's least favorite?"
Emerald energy flared around Skögul's clenched fists. "You dare-"
"I dare many things," Katherine interrupted, her strength returning. "Including asking why Hela wants Lucien. What use does the goddess of death have for a child?"
"The boy is marked by life," Skögul replied, circling Katherine like a predator. "He brings light where there was none. My queen has... interests in such power."
Katherine laughed, the sound deliberately provocative. "So she sends her lapdog to fetch him? Tell me, did Klaus make you wear a collar too? Did you whimper when he pulled the leash?"
With a roar of rage, Skögul abandoned restraint. She charged forward, emerald energy forming whips and blades around her armored form.
Katherine was ready this time, using her wind manipulation to create swirling currents that disrupted Skögul's approach.
The vampire danced backward, leading the Valkyrie into denser forest where the close-set trees would hamper her larger opponent's movements.
Katherine used her environment strategically, vaulting over fallen logs that Skögul had to smash through, ducking under low branches that forced the Valkyrie to slow her pursuit.
"Coward!" Skögul bellowed, her frustration mounting as Katherine remained just out of reach. "Stand and fight!"
"Why?" Katherine called back, her tone mockingly reasonable. "Because it would be more convenient for you? Sorry, darling, I don't take requests."
Katherine's taunts had their intended effect. Skögul's attacks became more ferocious but less controlled, her emerald energy lashing out wildly and destroying everything in its path.
The forest around them was being systematically demolished, trees splintering and earth cratering under the force of the Valkyrie's rage.
But Skögul was no fool. After several minutes of fruitless pursuit, she stopped abruptly, her breathing controlled despite the exertion. Her eyes narrowed as she studied Katherine's movements, analyzing the pattern of evasion.
"Clever girl," she said, her voice suddenly calmer. "Leading me into terrain that favors your agility. But what happens when I change the battlefield entirely?"
Before Katherine could respond, Skögul raised her head and whistled - a piercing sound that seemed to tear the very fabric of the night. The whistle echoed impossibly, growing rather than fading, until it reverberated through the forest like thunder.
The air above them shimmered, reality distorting as something massive pushed through from elsewhere.
With a sound like tearing silk, Hrímfaxi materialized - a nightmare given flesh in the form of a winged horse. Its coat was midnight black, its eyes wept blood, and its teeth were daggers rather than normal equine dentition.
Skögul leapt upward with inhuman grace, landing astride her steed in a single fluid motion. Hrímfaxi reared, hooves striking the air as emerald fire trailed from its nostrils.
"Let's see how well you run now," Skögul called down, her voice carrying a note of triumph.
Katherine assessed her options rapidly. On the ground, she was vulnerable to aerial attacks.
"Well, that's fucking annoying." Katherine muttered to herself, before she yelled out, "Don't worry, wolf pet, I'll get there in a moment."
With a grimace of concentration, she forced her body to change - her shoulder blades extending painfully as leathery wings erupted from her back, tearing through her clothing.
The transformation was not instantaneous though like for example her shift to bats, requiring instead conscious reshaping of her physical form.
By the time her wings were fully manifested - twelve-foot spans of midnight membrane - Skögul with a enraged roar had already directed Hrímfaxi into a diving attack.
"AAAHHHH!" The Valkyrie roared.
Katherine launched herself skyward, powerful downstrokes carrying her above the tree line just as Hrímfaxi's hooves cratered the earth where she had stood. The night air was cold against her face as she climbed higher, wings straining against gravity.
Skögul wheeled her mount around, emerald eyes tracking Katherine's ascent. "You cannot escape me in the air, vampire! This is my domain!"
As if to prove her point, Skögul urged Hrímfaxi forward. The winged horse moved with immense speed, closing the distance between them in seconds. Katherine banked sharply, using her smaller size and greater maneuverability to avoid Skögul's sword thrust.
The aerial battle became a deadly dance above Mystic Falls - Katherine's agility against Hrímfaxi's raw power and speed.
The vampire created wind vortexes to disrupt the horse's flight pattern, while Skögul rained down emerald energy attacks that Katherine was forced to dodge mid-air.
Far below, a few townspeople might have glimpsed strange lights in the sky or heard distant sounds of combat, but the battle moved too quickly for human eyes to track properly.
Katherine soon realized she was at a disadvantage in direct confrontation. Hrímfaxi's speed matched her own, and Skögul's reach with her sword exceeded Katherine's claws. She needed a different strategy.
She began using hit-and-run tactics, striking quickly before retreating out of range. Each approach was calculated - a slash at Hrímfaxi's flank, a swipe at Skögul's exposed arm, then immediate withdrawal before they could counter.
"Fight properly, you coward!" Skögul shouted after several minutes of this frustrating exchange. "Or are you only brave when your victims are helpless?"
"Patience was never your virtue," Katherine called back, circling at a safe distance. "No wonder Klaus found you disappointing. All that potential, so little control."
Katherine's words struck deeper than her claws had. Skögul's expression contorted with rage, her emerald armor flaring brighter. "You know nothing of what passed between us!"
"I know enough," Katherine replied, voice dripping with false sympathy. "The mighty Valkyrie, reduced to a plaything. Did he at least remember your name when he was finished with you?"
With a scream of pure hatred, Skögul drove Hrímfaxi forward in a reckless charge. Katherine had anticipated this, timing her evasion perfectly. As horse and rider shot past, Katherine executed a mid-air twist that brought her talons across Hrímfaxi's left wing.
The winged horse screamed - a sound that shattered windows in buildings far below - as Katherine's claws tore through membrane and muscle. Hrímfaxi's flight faltered, its wounded wing struggling to maintain lift.
The look Skögul gave Katherine was one of pure murder. Her connection to her steed was clearly deeper than master and mount; the pain in her eyes reflected genuine attachment.
"You will suffer for that," Skögul promised, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
The Valkyrie's eyes began to glow with intense emerald fire, and she started chanting in ancient Norse - words that seemed to distort reality around her. The air became heavy, pressing against Katherine's wings and making flight increasingly difficult.
Skögul's emerald armor began to change, growing more elaborate and dangerous. Spikes extended from the joints, and the green glow intensified until it hurt to look at directly.
Katherine realized Skögul was tapping into her full Valkyrie powers. She needed to interrupt the transformation before it completed.
Gathering her remaining strength, Katherine attempted her most powerful ability - reality-bending compulsion.
"STOP!" she commanded, her voice carrying supernatural weight as she focused her will on the air surrounding Skögul. "BECOME SOLID!"
Blood vessels burst in Katherine's eyes from the strain, crimson tears streaming down her face as she forced reality to bend to her will. The air around Skögul visibly thickened, becoming gelatinous as it compressed around the Valkyrie.
For a moment, Skögul struggled, her chanting interrupted as she fought against the suddenly solid atmosphere.
But her emerald energy flared in response, shattering Katherine's compulsion with a backlash that sent the vampire tumbling backward through the air.
Katherine's wings failed momentarily from the magical rebound, and she plummeted several hundred feet before regaining control.
By then, Skögul had completed her transformation, her armor now a full-body carapace of emerald energy that extended to Hrímfaxi as well, healing the mount's injured wing.
The Valkyrie dove after Katherine, her sword extended for a killing blow. Katherine knew she couldn't outrun or outfight Skögul in her current state. She had one chance - a final, desperate gambit.
Katherine turned to face her pursuer, claws fully extended. She gathered the last of her strength, creating the most powerful wind manipulation she could manage. The air currents became visible around her - swirling vortexes of condensation that twisted into near-solid barriers.
Skögul and Hrímfaxi pushed through the windstorm, their momentum barely slowed by Katherine's desperate defense. The distance between them closed rapidly - fifty feet, thirty, ten.
Katherine and Skögul met in mid-air, claws against sword. The impact created a shockwave that rippled through the clouds around them. Their faces were inches apart, muscles straining as each fought for advantage.
"He will never be yours," Skögul whispered, her eyes boring into Katherine's. "When Dracula is finished with him, there will be nothing left to use."
------------------------
In the mirror realm, the ocean of blood rippled beneath Lucien's feet as Vader stood protectively before him and Elena.
The towering black figure's lightsaber hummed, its crimson glow illuminating Sekhmet's shocked expression as he clutched his severed arm, golden ichor pouring from the wound.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" Sekhmet howled in pain and rage, stumbling backward. Bill Forbes's voice emerged from the monstrous form, confused and terrified. "What- what is this thing?"
Sekhmet's lion head snarled in response to Bill's internal question. "A Qareen," the god hissed. "The boy's shadow self, a Jinn. But how it manifests as this... abomination, I cannot fathom."
Vader gave Sekhmet no time for further contemplation. The dark figure advanced fast and precise, lightsaber carving crimson arcs through the air. Sekhmet backpedaled, his remaining hand summoning solar flames that engulfed Vader's form.
The flames parted around Vader like water around stone, the Dark Side of the Force creating an impenetrable barrier. Sekhmet's eyes widened in disbelief as his primary weapon proved ineffective.
Behind them, Elena clung to Lucien's arm, her body trembling with terror and confusion.
"Is that- is that Darth Vader?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "What the hell is happening?"
"It's my Qareen," Lucien explained, watching as Vader pressed his advantage against the wounded god. "My shadow self, you could say. A manifestation of my darker aspects."
"Qareen? Darker aspects? None of this makes sense!" Elena's voice rose in pitch as hysteria threatened to overwhelm her.
"It doesn't matter right now," Lucien replied, his eyes never leaving the battle before them. "What matters is that he's giving us an opportunity, and we need to take it."
Lucien's mind raced as he watched Vader's fight.
He remembered his battle with the Fates - that moment in the Realm of Possibilities where the Dark Side had been just so strong.
He had been trying to replicate that connection for years, with limited success.
But this mirror realm... it had similar properties. He could feel the Dark Side calling to him, stronger than ever before.
The trick was pulling the Force in the surroundings into a concentrated domain, making it far more potent.
Making things a lot more... possible.
He couldn't ever get it right for long.
But here... It may not be as strong as the realm of Fates, but with his experience, the time Vader is buying and what is already here...
He can make it work.
-----------------------
Sekhmet managed to create distance between himself and Vader, his one-handed defenses proving inadequate against the relentless assault. "You cannot stop what has been set in motion," the lion-headed god growled. "The ritual continues. The covenant will be fulfilled!"
Vader remained silent, his only response the continued advance of his glowing blade.
Suddenly, the air shimmered as another massive figure appeared. A serpentine form coiled through the blood ocean, rising behind Vader with frightening speed - Apophis, its snake form dwarfing even Vader's imposing height.
Howard Gilbert's human features were barely visible beneath the snake god's form.
Without warning, Apophis struck, massive coils wrapping around Vader's body. The lightsaber was pinned against the dark figure's side, unable to cut through the divine coils.
"Yessss," Apophis hissed, its voice a disturbing blend of Howard Gilbert's human tones and something ancient and cold. "The shadow creature is strong, but not divine. It cannot stand against two gods."
Sekhmet laughed triumphantly, approaching the immobilized Vader. "I don't know what kind of shit stain you are," he addressed Vader, "but you will learn the price of standing against us."
Vader struggled against the coils but could not break free. Apophis tightened its grip, forcing a mechanical wheeze from Vader's respirator.
Apophis was preparing to crush Vader completely when a blinding flash of blue-white light illuminated the entire realm.
Force lightning struck the serpent god, causing it to scream in agony. Its coils reflexively loosened around Vader, allowing the dark figure to break free.
All eyes turned toward the source of the lightning.
Lucien hovered above the blood ocean, Elena clinging to his back in wide-eyed terror. His hair floated as if underwater, eyes glowing with power.
The red aura surrounding him pulsed with his heartbeat, and the very air seemed to bend around his form.
Apophis retreated to Sekhmet's side, both gods regarding this new threat with wary eyes. Lucien descended slowly until he stood beside Vader, his expression transformed into a battle-hungry smirk completely unlike his normal look.
"You take care of the one-handed freak," Lucien said to Vader without looking at him, "I'll handle the snake."
Force lightning continued to crackle around Lucien's hands as he stepped forward, the blood ocean parting before each footfall.
For the first time since the ritual began, he felt... strong.
'Unlimited power in fucking deed, Palpatine.' Lucien thought to himself with a grin.