Gehrman looked at his adversary, then at the one who he considered to be one of his first friends he had made in Equestria. If looks could kill, then Gascoigne would be dead by now. Rushing over to the baby dragon, Gehrman cradled him in his arms, holding him to his chest as he looked down at the dragon with eyes full of regret and sorrow. “Come on, boy, stay with me,” Gehrman pleaded as he watched Spike look up at him, pain clearly visible on his face as he clutched the wound on his abdomen. “Do not worry. Everything will be all right.”
Looking up at his friend, Spike spoke up through gritted teeth. “I just wanted to… help. Twilight… she… she told me to go back and help you. We found the Crystal Heart and--.”
“Save you breath, boy,” Gehrman shushed him. “Please, do not close your eyes.”
Gehrman’s eyes widened as he turned around and watched as Gascoigne’s axe closed in on him. Gascoigne, clearly not aware of the grave mistake he had just made, continued to slash at Gehrman. Gehrman, still carrying Spike in his arms, quickly shoulder bashed Gascoigne, sending him stumbling backwards. Running towards Applejack, who had been watching the scene unfold, he gently placed the baby dragon in front of her.
“Get him into the palace, or behind it. As long as he is safe from danger!” Gehrman ordered the mare, who nodded as a reply as she put Spike on her back, cringing as she felt drops of blood land on her coat.
Letting out a sigh, Gehrman turned around to face his adversary. He stood mere meters away from him, but Gehrman could smell the stench of the Old Blood in his clothes. They were stained with the blood of innocent men and perhaps even woman. Whatever Oedon was talking about, Gehrman could assure one thing. He would end Gascoigne’s suffering once and for all. Walking towards the Church hunter, the First Hunter reached for his sheathed Burial Blade.
‘So you choose to hunt?’ Oedon asked, chuckling to himself, ‘Very well, hunter. End this bloodshed once and for all. My kin has brought enough suffering. It is time to put an end to all of it. But please, hunter, don’t lose your way.’
Nodding his head as a reply to Oedon’s orders; Gehrman dashed towards the Church hunter. Un-sheathing his Burial Blade, he jumped upwards and slashed down at Gascoigne. Gascoigne, however, blocked the blade with his axe. Pushing Gehrman backwards, the hunter slashed at him, but his attack was met with one from Gehrman. The colliding of steel echoed through the Empire, alerting everyone of the battle that was unfolding. Gascoigne gritted his teeth as Gehrman dashed forward with speed he had never seen before. The Church hunter, clearly at a disadvantage, rolled aside to dodge a stab from the legendary Burial Blade. He extended his axe, wanting to keep his distance, and slashed downward at Gehrman, wanting to at least get a minuscule hit on him. But Gehrman saw through his attack and rolled through it, actually dodging the attack, which shocked Gascoigne up to a point where he froze for a few seconds.
‘What is this speed? Is this his true power?’ he thought to himself, eyes wide as he watched Gehrman run towards him.
Blocking another attack from the First Hunter, Gascoigne quickly jumped backwards. Aiming his Blunderbuss at him, he pulled the trigger.
“Two can play that game, filth,” Gehrman said. Grabbing his Blunderbuss and aiming it at the Church hunter, he pulled the trigger. It was almost if fate had it all planned out when the bullets collided with one another, only a few narrowly avoiding collision. Both hunters had already dodged each other’s bullets, not giving up as they both reloaded their weapons.
Gascoigne gritted his teeth in anger as he looked at Gehrman with rage filled eyes. Running forward, the hunter slid towards Gehrman, dragging his axe across the concrete while he still kept his eyes fixed upon his target. “I’m counting on you, old friend,” he said, looking at his axe as he pushed himself off the concrete ground. Slashing upwards at Gehrman, his eyes widened once more as Gehrman kicked his axe away with his peg leg. Rolling away from the first hunter, he suddenly clutches his side in pain. Turning his attention to the source of the pain, he noticed a deep cut running from his right hip to his back.
“How did you?” he asked, looking at Gehrman.
Gehrman smirked as he ran his fingers over his Burial Blade, wiping the blood off it. “They do not call me ‘First Hunter’ for nothing.” He replied, still smirking.
“It doesn’t matter what you’re called. I will ensure you’ll be laying dead by my feet!” Gascoigne shouted at him as he reached into his coat’s pouch. Holding the object that he had grabbed from his pouch, he removed the cloth that was wrapped around the syringe and injected the substance into his right thigh. Unleashing a scream of agony as he felt the Old Blood course through his veins, he looked at Gehrman, showing of his teeth as he tightened his grip around his axe. “I will not allow you to take what I hold dear to me! I will not fail them again! I will see them once more!”
“Don’t lose your way,” Gehrman reminded himself as he blocked yet another downward slash from Gascoigne. Pushing the hunter’s axe to the side, Gehrman fired his Blunderbuss at the Church hunter. The bullets, making impact with their target, shot through Gascoigne, some of them now stuck in his body. Clutching his abdomen, Gascoigne stumbled backwards. Coughing up blood, he shook his head furiously when suddenly Gehrman kneed him under his jaw, sending him flying backwards.
Gascoigne, now wounded and in a lot of pain, reached for another blood vile in his pouch, but was stopped by Gehrman, who grabbed hold of the hunter’s hand and twisted it, almost breaking it. Gascoigne let out a scream of pain and kicked Gehrman in his gut, sending the First Hunter stumbling backwards. Looking at his hand, he pulled at it, earning some sickening cracks as a result. “Kill you,” Gascoigne breathed out, watching in shock as Gehrman had already regained his strength and was already walking towards him. “I’ll kill you! I’ll devour you! Kill you! Kill you! I’ll tear you apart limb for limb! I will kill you!”
“I would like to see you try,” Gehrman retorted. Maneuvering his Burial Blade around his back, the First Hunter attached the hilt of his blade to the wooden back end; he transformed his trick weapon into its second form. This second, more deadly form would send fear down into the hearts of many hunters and beasts. But now, he would send fear down to the heart of a monster. “Come now, hunter. Let us end this fight.”
Jumping upwards, Gehrman slashed down at Gascoigne, successfully hitting the hunter several times. Blocking a few slashes from Gascoigne, Gehrman kicked Gascoigne backwards and slashed to his side. Gascoigne, barely fast enough to block the attack, pushed the scythe away from his side and threw a few punches at him. The punches were, however, blocked by the First Hunter with ease. Gehrman was not impressed. If this were truly the extent of Gascoigne’s power, then he would end this right here and now. Or so he thought. Having been so caught up in thoughts, plus the thought of Spike dying on his watch in the back of his head, Gehrman had not noticed that Gascoigne had his Blunderbuss aimed at him. His eyes widened when he heard the gun go off, and he winced in pain as the barrage of Quicksilver scatter shots impacted with his body. Stumbling backwards, Gehrman winced as he looked at Gascoigne, who was also wincing in pain.
“Clever move, hunter,” Gehrman said. “Very clever indeed.”
Gascoigne grinned at the hunter, his teeth covered in blood. “Your death will not be a quick one, old man. We are both wounded, but I am not going to die here. You are--.”
Gascoigne was cut off when Gehrman dashed forward towards him with speed that actually turned him invisible for few seconds. He felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. Looking down at his abdomen with a mouth filled with blood, Gascoigne chuckled to himself as he brought his hands to Gehrman’s Burial Blade. “I cannot believe,” he breathed out, grabbing hold of the blade as it cut deep into his hands, “that you actually managed to get a good hit on me, old man.” He said, pulling the blade out of his abdomen, surprised to feel no resistance from Gehrman. Falling to his knees, Gascoigne looked up at Gehrman. “I suppose this is where I beg for mercy, huh?”
“Go and rest for all eternity, hunter,” Gehrman replied. Turning his back to Gascoigne, Gehrman started to walk away from the Church hunter.
Gascoigne, clearly enraged at Gehrman, tried to get up, but fell to the ground with a big smack, making the pain he was already enduring even worse. Rolling onto his back, Gascoigne looked up at the sky… only to widen his eyes when he noticed the sky was no longer blue and peaceful, but grey and menacing. Chuckling to himself, Gascoigne let out a sigh. “I failed, Viola. I am so sorry.”
‘You already failed her a long, long time ago, hunter,’ Oedon said, his voice full of distaste towards Gascoigne. ‘I am surprised to see you kept your sanity in this fight. The hunter who bested you before Gehrman had to deal with the outer and inner you. After all, you were and always will be: A beast. You have mortally wounded a child. I can feel his life slipping away.’
‘You mean the lizard?’ Gascoigne replied in thoughts, chuckling. ‘I never liked reptiles anyway.’
‘Silence yourself you filth,’ Oedon hissed at him. ‘This fight, your fight is not over yet. You have one more chance to make up for your mistakes.’
‘Mistakes?’ Gascoigne replied. ‘Is it a mistake to do everything in your power to see your family again? Hunting is in my blood, but I will not rest until I have seen them one more time.’
‘The so-called Great One has arrived. Why don’t you ask him the question I told you to ask… Then you will see the truth.’
Oedon’s voice seemed to vanish, and Gascoigne was alone once more. Giving Oedon’s words some thought, Gascoigne slowly pushed himself up from the ground. His wound, now even hurting more than before was already bleeding pretty bad. It would probably get infected and he would probably die… or perhaps not. Reaching for his coat’s pouch, Gascoigne pulled out his third blood vial and injected it into his right thigh. Inhaling a sharp gust of air, he turned his head to Gehrman, who was still walking away from him. “It’s not over yet, old man!” Standing at his full height again, Gascoigne looked down at his wound. Damn, it still wasn’t healed up perfectly. No matter. He would finish off Gehrman with a little help. After all, what good is a hunt when you can’t share the bloodshed with another hunter? Or, in Gascoigne’s case, another Great One.
“It would appear you require assistance,” the menacing voice of king Sombra echoed through the Crystal Empire. Suddenly, the shadow of the evil king appeared behind Gascoigne, looking down at him with menacing green eyes. “In the past I already had troubles with finding useful slaves, but you are more useless than any of my previous slaves, Gascoigne.”
Those were defiantly not the words Gascoigne was expecting.
“What did you call me?” Gascoigne asked.
“I called you for what you truly are. A slave to a higher power. You will obey every—no, you have obeyed my every order up until now. You are a slave, my slave. Now, slave, kill Cadance and her husband Shining Armor.”
Gascoigne looked at Sombra. Nodding his head, the hunter started to walk towards the palace, but slowed his pace when he noticed Gehrman had already turned around, looking at him with menacing eyes. Gascoigne turned his head to Sombra.
“Please answer me this, oh Great One,” he begged in a sarcastic tone.
Letting out a sigh of frustration, Sombra’s shadow seemingly nodded.
“What color is my wife’s brooch?” Gascoigne asked.
Sombra, chuckling grimly, spoke up and replied to the Church hunter. “Her brooch is green, just like her eyes. Eyes you will be able to see again very soon, once you complete your task.”
Nodding his head, Gascoigne walked towards Gehrman. This was it. This was where he would end it all. He would see his family again.
‘Do it,’ Oedon’s voice echoed through Gascoigne’s mind.
Stopping in his tracks, Gascoigne spoke up. “It is a pity my partner, Henryk isn’t here to join in on the action. We were a gallant, yet fearsome duo, the two of us. I never knew what happened to him. Is he still alive? Or has he been slain by either a beast or another hunter who has gone mad with the hunt? Or… did he went mad, and was he freed form the never-ending nightmare of hunting by another hunter? Perhaps Eileen? I do not know. But what I do know are the wise words he always gave me,” he said, turning around to face Sombra. “We can be Dreams if we may desire, but we can also become Nightmares ourselves, if need be. From our Prey's perspective, we are their never-ending Nightmare. And today, Sombra, your nightmare has just begun.”
With that said, Gascoigne ran towards Sombra and jumped upwards. With all of his might he would slash down upon his foe, and he would finally be freed from his own never-ending nightmare.