atience. I'm not sure how many still follows this story but here is the last chapter before the final chapter :) I am slow but I am working my way to the finish line :) Hope you enjoy.

Adapting to the notion of Jasper as an ally did not come easy to anyone, least of all Damon. But they needed him for two essential reasons. He had vital information about Arawn and Lea, and he also had persuaded a fraction of the camp vampires to be loyal to him instead of Arawn. These vampires would be able to help them, should it come to a fight. Although the concept of loyalty and Jasper wasn't exactly compatible, he gave them no reasons to mistrust him. He also did not give them reasons to like him.

It was hardly a surprise that Damon treated him like a mortal enemy, but Jasper managed to piss of everyone in the house after coming on to all of the girls in turn. Even Caroline, in spite being single, felt offended by him, and no one really wanted him around. They couldn't deny that he was valuable, though. He told them that Lea would be in Mystic Falls Wednesday, around noon, and they fully intended to intercept her, before she did something stupid.

Jasper loudly expressed his opinion; that she had already done something stupid, and the fastest way to end all this was to end her. He had no faith in Damon's insisting idea that he could make her come back by simply talking to her. Although Jasper declared that he would be ecstatic should this true consort myth be true, he still believed the surest way to success included strangling his ex-girlfriend.

Elena was relieved that Mara was no longer around and she encouraged everyone to believe that everything would work out. She was the only one who could actually talk to Damon without receiving a butt load of insults in return.

Wednesday morning, she found him standing in Lea's room. Bonnie had removed the ward, preventing vampires from entering now that Lea was gone and it was the only place that tortured him enough to make him feel less angry. He deserved to be tortured and in her room he could inflict pain on himself by simply breathing in. Her scent still lingered in the sheets and it took him back to recent memories of sex and laughter.

"I know you must be going crazy," Elena mumbled from the door and smiled consolingly when he looked her way. "You never were good at waiting for anything."

Damon could hear the pity in her voice and sneered at it. "Impatient, me? You've got it all wrong, I am savoring the anticipation. In a few hours she will be in town and hopefully Arawn is with her. Then I get to mutilate him. It's like waiting for Christmas morning."

She eyed him disdainfully. "And then it will all be over and you just have to make Lea herself again."

His silence revealed a rare insecurity. "Jasper's overly certain that I won't be able to," he spoke with a cheery voice, as if he was only looking forward to proving the guy wrong.

Elena huffed and strolled to sit on the bed. "Pfff, what does Jasper know of love. He tried to score with me by comparing me to a V8 engine or something."

"He is a bad boy, Elena. You used to find that sort charming," he mocked. Damon's fingers played with Lea's wedding dress, flung over the back of a chair for a while. "….. And what do I know about love?"

She smiled at him so that he wouldn't notice. "I'd say you know enough. I know, that you know, that you and Lea are magical together. I am sorry if I haven't told you so before, I have had a lot to deal with lately, but Caroline is right; Lea is the cherry to your ice cream."

"How southern of her," Damon said, ignoring the message she was trying to convey.

"It just means that we all see it. You love her, Damon. I thought I knew how you loved, seeing as I know how you were with me and Katherine, but I guess I was wrong." She smiled at him with a mixture of sadness and joy on her face. "Me and Katherine, we were infatuations compared to Lea. You are so much yourself around her, and she apparently loves it; doesn't try to change you or anything."

"Who knew that vampirism would make you even mushier, Elena?" he smirked, dodging an actual reply.

"Fine, you don't want to admit it. I am not going to force feed you the realities, Damon. But I will say this; She's good, Damon. She doesn't want to do this and if you love her, you won't let her."

…

Jorð wandered through the woods at the edge of the town. Arawn followed her in the shades of the trees with no intention of letting her out of his sight. He had always had a very limited ability to walk in daylight. The sunrays flayed him, but he was old, he couldn't die like that and even though it felt like fire turning his muscles to ash repeatedly, nothing could spoil these days for him. He hated the sun, but he was obsessed with the future he was so close to achieving.

He had wanted to drive her to Mystic Falls, but Jorð insisted on walking all the way there. Cars were like cages to her. She was silent as the grave, but her skin and hair were vibrating loudly, sounding like a marching band bound for war. Her body was swift like a humming bird. So swift that at times it appeared as if she was several places at once, her physical form dissolving into movement and emotion and yet she paced along slowly. She halted when the forest ended and she could only continue by way of the streets. The Gea studied the asphalt with the curiosity of a deer, smelling it, touching it. It was as if she had already forgotten where she came from and that she had been born into and lived in this world of civilized concrete. The dark green of her eyes leaked into the skin around them, drawing a leafy pattern of veins.

Arawn thought she was beautiful, so full of power and hatred, reminding him of a mother he never knew. She was indeed a worthy mate for him.

Eventually she risked stepping onto the road and began her final walk towards the center of town. He could not follow her in the direct sun, and there were very few shadows at this hour. Slowly the ancient dark vampire made his way after her, by running from shadow to shadow, although he nearly burst into flame at each step and he soon lost sight of her. It didn't matter anyway. Her mind was set to purpose; there was no stopping her and he would know soon enough if she had succeeded.

…

Damon scouted in every direction. It was time; she had to be here soon. Jasper was at home in the house, and Stefan had volunteered to look after him, but the girls and Jeremy was with him at the square. The others waited in the small coffee bar on the corner, hidden from sight, but Damon was done hiding. He wouldn't hide from her.

At first he didn't recognize her when she appeared at the far end of the road leading up the square. She was thin like branches on a tree and moved like air. The skin that was usually so white had a tanned green hue. She drew a lot of attention to herself. Cars stopped, the drivers asking if she was okay, children applauding her like she was wearing the best Halloween costume in town and mothers covering their children's eyes as the, basically nude woman walked by. Lea ignored them all. A man tried to grab her wrist, probably assuming she escaped some sort of mental institution, but she slipped out of his hand like sand. She made it all the way to square before a couple of police officers came running, but Damon was faster and he compelled them to disappear.

Lea continued to the place where Frigg's bones had been found, and the very place she had begun her journey towards her powers. This time she was here with a very different purpose.

Damon felt his beating heart stop at the sight of her. He could tell it was his Lea, but she was also something else. Something dark and monstrous and he had condemned her to this. That warm funny woman who had looked him in the eyes on their wedding day and made him doubt everything he thought he knew, was now transformed into nature, but the cruel merciless kind. He lost all the words he had so carefully constructed for her and simply walked towards her.

She seemed to register his presence like one would a wind coming from behind and she turned with a puzzled expression.

"Doesn't she recognize him?" Caroline wondered, but the others shushed her.

The Gea turned and twisted her head, trying to produce some buried memory. She smelled Damon's neck and then finally a trace of recognition flared in her eyes. "My true mate. Are you here to help me?"

Damon wanted to slap her out of this eerie mood and although he was pretty sure she was asking for help to kill humans, rather than to reconnect with herself, he nodded. "At your service, milady."

The Gea smiled, and it was ghastly. "My husband," she buzzed gleefully and rubbed her cheek against him like a cat would do it.

He took her face between his palms, but he could not catch her rapid eyes, flickering at inaudible sounds. "Lea, are you in there?" he asked as gently as Damon could ask anything. His blue eyes tried to capture even a glimmer of the soul he knew. The touch appeared to calm her slightly. He leaned in to kiss her, suck this venom from her system, but out of nowhere Arawn suddenly crashed into him, flinging him across the square and through a window.

"Now Jorð, now!" Arawn yelled victoriously and Jorð threw her fingers into the ground.

"Stop, Lea! What are you doing!? Why are you with Arawn?" Caroline shouted as she ran out from the shop, but the question didn't seem to register with Lea. "Are you kidding me?" Caroline huffed and ran to block Lea's path. "Look into my eyes. This is not you. Take control, Lea, don't let the Gea win."

Arawn was too surprised by the boldness of the blond baby vampire to say anything and he had to retreat to a shadow under a marquee.

Lea hunched her back and growled, ignoring Caroline's angry attempts to gain her attention.

Damon got on his feet and prepared to leap back into the fight. This was it! Arawn was a dead vampire. But before he could speed into the sun, Elena jumped through the window, knocking him over and back into the shadow.

"Get out of my way, Elena."

"No, Damon! He took your ring!" She pointed to his hand, to the finger missing the lapis lazuli ring and he felt his heart drop. Arawn was toying with it across the street, flipping it into the air like a coin.

Caroline was still trying her best to reach Lea. "This isn't you, Lea. Snap out of it!" She slapped Lea across the face, but still no reaction. "Don't you care about all the people you'll hurt? Your family? Damon?"

A hint of recognition sparked in the dark green eyes, and with slow movements Lea rotated towards Caroline, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "You are a vampire. You should be happy about my choices. No more hiding in the darkness, because there will be nothing but shadow."

"Are you crazy? Lea, wake up, do you really think Arawn will be better for the earth than the humans are?"

"Lea is not here right now. I am Jorð and you should run."

Caroline grimaced at the cold tone. "Why?"

Without a word Jorð bend down and dug her fingers into the ground. A subtle rumble rose around them as the stones started jumping and dancing and Caroline nearly lost her balance. Cracking noises screamed as the earth gave in, opening up around them.

"Lea, stop it!"

"I told you to run." With a twist of her wrist Jorð sent a new wave of tremors towards the spot where Caroline stood, tossing her far up into the air. She crashed into the coffee shop window and knocked her head on a table. All the glass in the buildings burst, as the tremors increased, showering screaming people with sharp confetti.

The earthquake spread like flames through streets and buildings and the city transformed into a warzone of painful cries and crumbling ruins. More windows splintered, walls collided, people got crushed beneath tons of falling bricks or was swallowed by the gaping ground. Damon saw the smug grin on Arawn's face from across the square. He saw Lea scream like madman while she increased the power of the quake and he gave a fuck about sunshine. The small backbone from Frigg had been carved to a point and added to a longer wooden stick. Damon yanked it out and sprinted into the light, aiming for Arawn.

Dust propelled into the air covering the city in a cloud of destruction and in that cloud, Arawn laughed before he disappeared. Damon spun around himself. He can't have gone far. However, no matter how hard he tried to spot the Original, he could not see him. Damon's tunnel vision expanded with the loss of his prey and he saw the full extent of the devastation Lea was causing. He only just avoided being trapped beneath a heavy layer of bricks as the façade of the house nearest to him simply fell apart. The sweet smell of blood wavered through the air, and people where running left and right, looking for any safe place, but there was none. Caroline was helping Jeremy carry an unconscious Bonnie and Elena attempted to rescue Matt from inside the Mystic Grill.

Children, men, and women lay scattered in the streets, dead or dying, and in the middle of all this was Lea. No, Jorð. Lea could never have done something like this and Damon only now realized how firmly a grip this hateful Gea had on her. It was raining bricks and the sound of the earthquake was like one deep, long, scary moan. He ran to her. Big green tears, greasy as oil, dripped from her eyes and her mouth was twisted as if the two souls were fighting on her tongue.

Damon lay his square hands on hers, trying to pull them from the earth and in that moment her eyes focused, she looked at him, she saw him and she whispered a feeble; "Help me."

He shouted over the noise of the chaos; "I will! Just let go." And then the earthquake reached its goal and the power of Frigg was released in the form of a dense whirling mist that emanated from the ground, lingering a few seconds in mid-air, before it rushed into the nearest suitable host, Lea.

He knew she was lost again, before the last noise of breaking earth fell silent. She was bleeding from rocks falling on her shoulders and legs, but she rose and ran from him, disappearing in the remaining dust, that would not settle for days after that noon on Wednesday, November 14.

Mystic falls was in ruins. They all thought the fire at the police station was a catastrophe, but this was unlike anything they had ever seen. People lay or wandered around in hazy disbelief. Damon only had eye for the spot where he had last seen Lea, but she had vanished as dew before the sun. He moved to chase her down, but Elena put her hand on his shoulder.

"She's gone, Damon."

"I can catch her."

"No, Damon. Look around you. Look what she did. She is gone, in more than one sense of the word." Elena's eyes were red and her hair grey with concrete dust. She had just lost so many she knew.

He tore himself away from the thought of hunting Lea and scanned his surroundings. It was a warzone. Matt was unconscious and bleeding on the sidewalk after Elena had dragged him from the ruins of the Grill. Not that Damon ever cared for that beefy quarterback, but he couldn't ignore that Lea had made on hell of a mess. Having once been a soldier, Damon had seen his share of battlefields, not to mention the countless bodies of his victims throughout the years, but he had never been in the middle of a natural disaster. It was different somehow, from all the other forms of death he had witnessed and executed. Damon had always enjoyed choosing his victims. Lea had not been so selective. Her devastation had struck like a gust of wind, blowing on the faces of random people, a LOT of random people. There was so much death and confusion, that no one could as much as facilitate sorrow. No one could feel anything but shock and agony.

"We need to help Bonnie and Matt, and.."

"WE don't need to do anything, Elena. I am going after Arawn, getting Lea back and you can stay here and play the Good Samaritan. I prefer to do something about this mess, other than fetching broom and dustpan," he sneered. "I had him. I was so close." He felt like screaming.

"You don't know where they went, Damon. And after this…" she hesitated, "I am not really convinced that Lea can come back…"

He wanted to throw some witty denial her way, but he could feel the collected tragedy raging around him, and suddenly he wasn't so sure he knew Lea at all. How would she handle what she had done? She was not a vampire and he had no idea how this second soul thing worked. He would like to believe that it could be turned on and off like his switch, but in truth he had no clue.

Elena was gasping, trying not to cry and to avoid smelling the huge amount of blood around her. Damon knew she feared for him if he took off alone.

"I have another plan, Damon," she said, mustering all the authority she could. "We get Bonnie and Matt to safety. You get hold of Klaus and Tyler and run back to Jasper. He must know something about where we can find Arawn. Lea and Arawn has a big lead now, and before you ever reach them, they will be back with his army and you can't fight Arawn if you have to get past hundreds of vampires and Lea first." It obviously killed her, suggesting going directly on the offence, when her hometown lay in ruin and people all around were crying for help. Nevertheless, Damon wasn't thinking straight right now, and he was their only hope – as hopelessly as that sounded. They had to stand together now and it would be impossible to ask him to wait and help the injured before going after Arawn. Besides, Arawn had everything he needed now and there might not be a lot of time left before a disaster out-scaling this one occurred.

The muscles in his jaw tightened reluctantly and for a while, he stared in the direction where Lea had disappeared. He wanted nothing more than to run faster than he had ever run, catch her and make her listen. That small cry for help was enough for him, no matter what she had done and what Elena believed. Lea could come back to him and he was the one who had to lead her. He would not abandon her, although he knew Elena and the others might not be so understanding.

"Fine. I'll meet you back by the boarding house. Don't waste any time." Knowing Elena, she would set out the help everyone in Mystic Falls before feeling ready to go after Arawn, but there was no time. They had to act quickly.

"Damon, wait!" Elena took his hand by the finger. "Where is your ring, didn't you retrieve it from Arawn?"

"I didn't."

"Then how, Damon, you're walking outside in the daylight and you're not wearing your ring." Elena looked at him stunned. None of them had noticed until now.

Damon halted and looked at his empty finger and then into the sky.

"It must have something to do with the whole resurrection," Elena gasped and looked at him as if she expected him to burst into flames at any second.

Perhaps you think that such a turn of event won't mean anything to a vampire normally in possession of a daylight-ring, but you would be wrong. Vampires, even those who by the means of magic can walk in the sun, has a constant sensation of not being welcome when it's day outside. Of course you get used to it, especially with a spelled ring, but being able to stand in the sun completely on his own filled Damon with a sensation like the one he had the day his heart began beating again. It was like regaining a lost sense. It seemed to him, that Lea had continuously given him gifts since he met her, he rose from a dark thing into the light, and she in turn descended into a place of blackness.

…

Jorð watched him, camouflaged beyond recognition from a treetop nearby. Her mate. He was so beautiful and strong and she had to fight the urge to run to him. They were deeply connected, but he spoke of killing Arawn and stopping her. It puzzled her why he would turn against her cause, when he alone should be the one to stand beside her. She felt lost without him, but she could not let that distract her. It was like the grief she did not allow herself to feel. Every life wasted was a great sorrow and she would add to this many times more before long. The deaths of so many of earth's children was like pouring hot metal over her body, infinite painful. Yet it had to be done, because the humans had become more destructive than the earth could bear and though she felt kinship to each one of them, it was a matter of killing or be killed.

Once she had conducted the great purge, she would take the time to weep. She might not stop weeping before she herself died, but that was her burden to bear.

Arawn was displeased that she did not follow him immediately, perhaps he sensed her relation to her consort, but he could not stand the sun and she had promised to return soon. He kept talking about creating a new breed that would care for the earth with vigilance. She barely listened to him. Much more pressing concerns filled her mind. It was not an easy task, killing so many of her children, but the anger and self-preservation kept her going. She only wished that the blue-eyed vampire standing so close to the tree would take his place beside her as he was meant to.

…

It took longer than Damon had hoped to gather everyone. When he called Klaus, the Original was caught up in his own affairs and not too distraught by the news of Mystic Falls.

"I too have on occasion, when my otherwise mellow temper gets the best of me, toyed with the idea of a bloody rampage through that meeker town of yours. It's not like the rest of the world would really take notice," he said, when Damon told him what had happened. "But I would not want a troublesome doomsday to tamper with my delicate enterprises."

Damon heard a scream on the other end of the line and a crash.

Klaus temporarily dropped the phone to handle the loud situation before he returned with an almost gleeful: "He'll thank me later."

"I am sure he will," Damon responded.

"Anyhow, as soon as I have concluded my business I shall join you. Oh, and just so we are clear – I do not take orders from you. This is a temporary mutual beneficial arrangement and once Arawn is dead, we will go back to where we were."

Damon smirked. He knew Klaus would never consider him an ally and now that Damon was strong enough to beat him, Klaus might actually consider him a threat. The notion amused him. "Klaus, my brother from another mother," Damon emphasized the word brother as if they were equals, which he knew would piss the Original off. "You might pretend that we small folks from Mystic Falls are insignificant, but you keep on coming back. Have we been wrong this entire time? Is it me that you come to see and not vampire Barbie?"

He could almost hear Klaus' teeth grind against each other. "I suggest that you stop making a fool out of yourself, and focus on the task at hand. I have been at this a lot longer than you, and I intend to continue long after you have gone. Surely you have some werewolves to summon."

"Indeed," Damon replied and hung up.

Tyler and his group were more compliant. They had been tracking and monitoring Arawn's vampire recruitment, killing vampires before they reached the camp. Minimizing the arrival of newcomers might make things easier. Damon hated to admit it, but the hybrid jock had actually gone and done something clever. The pack couldn't attack the camp itself, it was too well organized and there were too few werewolves so they had to keep their distance. Tyler suggested they meet up near the forest, as close as they could get without the vampires detecting them. Jasper would lead them the rest of the way once everybody arrived. No more waiting! This would end tonight.

Jasper and Stefan watched in silence while Damon arranged everything, Stefan with his brooding concern and Jasper with a smug I-told-you-so attitude. If Damon hadn't been so occupied he would have gladly knocked Jasper's teeth out, but Lea was his first priority. The boarding house stood on the far outskirts of the town and the earthquake hadn't reached it, but Stefan had seen the collapse of the buildings from afar. He wanted to run and help Elena and his brother but the whole thing was over in little more than a minute and Damon came running soon after. There was little reason to explain what Lea had done and Damon told Stefan that Elena was alive.

When the girls returned with Jeremy and Matt they looked utterly defeated. Stefan had not been able to comprehend just how much damage Lea had done, as Damon did not appear too upset.

Caroline sniffled as she helped Matt into the house. "I can't believe this happened."

They were still all in a state of disbelieve and horror. The home Caroline, Elena – well, almost all of their homes were gone – although to Caroline, it did not feel like it had been whole since her mum died.

Matt recovered on the couch, the sole survivor of the people inside the Grill thanks to Elena. One time or another, they had all done something of questionable morale. Stefan and Damon had more corpses on their conscience than the number of bodies now scattered through the remnants of Mystic Falls, but somehow this mass murder had such a magnitude they could not help battling terrible thoughts of Lea.

"She didn't ask for this," Caroline reminded them, like Elena had done her, when Alaric murdered her father. Still, she failed to sound completely convinced.

Jeremy was full of righteous fury, as would every survivor be, if they knew who had caused this. "I shouldn't have helped her train her powers. Innocents always get caught in our supernatural crossfire." He violently signaled himself and the rest of them. Jeremy had never liked the way vampires had interfered with their lives and in his time hunting he had witnessed even more bad things, but he had never seen so many killed at one time.

Damon suddenly knew that mini-Gilbert might have a greater desire to stop Lea than to help her. He searched the faces of everyone, attempting to determine who would side with him.

Bonnie seemed conflicted. She sat silently rubbing the healed part of her head, where the rubbles had hit her. As a witch, she was supposed to be the servant of nature, but after today she felt frightened, knowing what nature wanted. How could she possibly condone that? And if she chose to obstruct Lea's new mission, how could she, as a witch, oppose a Gea? Maybe there was a way to appease nature instead?

Elena and Caroline, who would always do anything for their friends, also had their doubts.

"Do you even think it's possible for Lea to come back from this?"

"Oh come on Elena. You spent months while Stefan got his Ripper on, holding on to the hope of getting the old Stefan back. Lea has been off the rails for less than thirty-six hours and you're already questioning whether she can be helped?" Damon argued sardonically.

"It might not be the same with Lea. We don't know how the two souls thing work and right now…." She sighed. "Damon, if you can't reach her, and we do nothing, then she will open that volcano. She just showed us that she's doesn't care who she hurts."

"My sister is right," Jeremy said. "I like Lea, we all like her." He glanced at Damon. "But truth is that we are not just trying to save Lea, we're trying to save everyone. We may have to choose between her and the rest of the world. You all know this."

When did that little punk learn to make understated threats, Damon wondered, impressed and annoyed. But before he could jump to Lea's defense, Caroline beat him to it.

"Of course we have to try and stop her, but what kind of friends would we be if we didn't try to help her first?"

"What's the matter with you? She's basically my wife," Damon jested, but he felt less than amused. He really didn't need their whining now. It was time wasted.

"She might be your wife, Damon, even though you totally don't deserve her," Caroline turned on him. Blondie never really had forgiven him, not that he blamed her. "We are not helping Lea because, you say so. We are going to help her because it is the right thing to do. Now, we can argue about this later because I don't want to fight after what I saw today, okay?!"

No one argued with her.

Jasper sat in the corner, enjoying the spectacle, no doubt ignoring whatever they decided. There were too many opinions and feelings involved, Damon thought. He sorely wished he could just compel them all to shut up. The image of Lea's desperation, reflected in her eyes as he cupped her cheeks, it made him angry and restless. He just wanted to turn back the time to the day after the wedding, and never go to Italy.

…

By sunset they all reached the forest Jasper had directed them to, but there were no vampires left to fight.

"Where are they?!" Damon sped through the remainder of the camp, in and out the caves. There were traces of the vampires everywhere, but they had all left in a hurry. Damon turned to Jasper. "Where did they go?"

Jasper seemed surprised as well. For the first time since they had met him, he actually appeared to be off balance. "Just give me a minute to think."

"I am not feeling very patient today. Tic toc, hound dog. Think fast or start tracking. Or maybe you want to use those finely attuned noses of yours?" He turned to Tyler and the werewolf pack who did not appreciate the condescending tone.

"A word of advice Damon, don't piss off the cavalry," Tyler spoke calmly.

"Yeah, well there won't be any cavalry for long, if we don't get to Arawn," Damon bit.

"And Lea," Bonnie added. "Arawn may be pushing the button, but Lea is the button."

"Wait a minute. I think we have less time than we imagined," Jasper said. "They are going to open the vulcano soon, in Yellowstone."

Damon looked at the large strange group of allied werewolves, hybrids and vampires. "Then that's where we are going."

…

Yellowstone was a place of great beauty and peace. Jord felt so at home wandering through the landscape, like she blended right into the radiant colors, became a part of their brightness. Translucent pillars of steam danced around her, springing from the hot water of the geysers and although it was scolding, Jord waved her arms through it. Heat and sunshine… it was a blissfully mending. After all she had done, and was about to do, she should not feel peaceful. It was difficult, however, to be truly angry on this spot of earth. It was sad that all this had to burn, when the lava broke through. She would remember all as it was so that it could be regrown at one time or another. Nature would have all the time in the world without humans.

Arawn didn't see much of Jord while the preparations proceeded. She drifted around like a shy wind, avoiding the vampires most of the time. It irritated him boundlessly that she couldn't be bothered to follow his careful elegant planning. After all, they would be one flesh soon. Still, he could forgive her distraction because of the gifts she would bring him. For thousands of years Arawn had wandered the earth without a reason to exist. The petty humans would never understand the torture of such a life. How eternal time had seemed. Frigg alone gave him purpose and now he had someone to share that purpose with. He had never experienced contentment such as this. Tonight his life would begin.

"Are you keen to get started," he asked Jord, sneaking up on her. She didn't even flinch.

"The earth will be so green again, every place a wonderful wilderness, like here." She waved her hand through the air, like she was painting the curves of the landscape and her face lit up in a smile. Yellowstone had a healthy effect on her, making her loose a bit of the disturbing character. Instead of a gangly insect, her body stood as a slim willow tree, bending to reach both water and sun.

"I never had a doubt that you would join me," he spoke. "I only hope your friends won't be so foolish as to follow you here."

"They are friends of Lea, not of me. They probably will try to kill me, now. If they show their faces, just get rid of them." Jord kneeled down and dipped her fingertips in the flowing water of a creek.

Arawn laughed friendly at her cruelty. "As you wish. Do you really care so little for them?"

"After tonight, they are dead anyway," she said, her voice stripped of emotion. Arawn studied her with his grey eyes and let a gentle palm slid along the curve of her shoulder, when she added: "Except Damon Salvatore. Him you cannot touch."

Arawn detected a tone in her voice that he did not care for. "What do you want with that toy?" he sneered.

"Did Jasper not tell you?" she asked, hiding a hint of delight. There was spite in her voice and he couldn't figure out why. Jord let her wet fingers drip water over her chest and closed her eyes as in pleasure. "Damon Salvatore is my husband."

It took a second for the information to settle with him. He did not want to believe the words. When she simply gazed at him without a smile he wanted mostly to stick his hand down her throat and drag out her spine like plucking a carrot. "HE IS YOUR WHAT!?" he exploded, pinning her to the ground. Arawn trembled with fury and his fingers automatically tightened around her neck. His vision blurred. Suddenly the memory of Frigg's rejection blended with Jord's spiteful expression. It had been a while since he had lost control like this and in his rage Arawn realized that killing the Gea would not help the situation. There was no telling how long it would take another Gea to be born, and he couldn't screw it all up now, not when she had agreed to help him. But WHY, why would she do this to him? Not only had Lea prevented him from marrying Jord, she had also created the only weapon that could kill him. Something had to be done about this, but what?

Jord never intended to marry him, he understood as much, but he didn't think she would be so picky once they were the only survivors left on earth. Arawn resisted the desire to apply the final pressure, end her for what she had done. There was time to fix this, and the mistake Damon Salvatore might never make it to Yellowstone in time to make a difference. Still, her betrayal was so great he could not restrain his anger and he hit her in the face again and again. Jord didn't even make a sound, though her face slowly turned blue and red. She had been through enough pain today that Arawns fits only banged on her wall of numbness. Arawn finally steadied himself and rose without feeling less frustrated.

"Your little stunt changes nothing, Jord. The plan continues."

"Yes," she spoke coldly and he didn't know what to say when she simply agreed. How could he possibly punish her sufficiently for this? There had to be a way to undo the bond between the two of them.

"Too bad you married him, because I will make sure you never see him again. He might be ABLE to kill me, but that doesn't garantee his success. I will kill him if he shows his face." He stared at her with icy anger before forcing a hard unpleasant kiss on her lips. Jord's eyes widened before she tried pushing him away. Arawn held her in an iron grip and ignored her struggling, until he was ready to part and tossed her backwards. Without another word, he walked away.

Mara came creeping on all four like she used to do before her renewal. She sat by the Gea and attempted to brush off Arawns's damage. "Are you okay, Gea?"

Jord spat a bit of blood on the ground and dried her mouth with the back of her hand. "Keep an eye on him, Mara. I want to know if he does anything to harm my consort."

The vampire nodded, apparently this was the closest she would ever come to true love, helping the Gea preserve hers. "Why did you leave him to begin with?" she wondered.

Jord smiled at Mara, as if they shared the same secret. "Revenge. You understand that, don't you?"

But Mara frowned. She understood the need for retribution batter than most, but if she had the choice between love and payback, she wouldn't hesitate to see what love would be like. The Gea certainly seemed to have forgotten the meaning of the word.

Hope you are all ready for the big finale by now. R&R as always. What did you think of Jord's action?