To reign among the pale

Title: To Reign Among the Pale
Author: Flaim
Pairing: Riddick/ Vaako (well in chapters to come, this is just the beginning)
Rating: NC 17
Slash
Warnings: Angst, violence
Status: unfinished
Beta: Many, many thanks to Lady Vaako, for taking this much work all on herself.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Riddick and Vaako, nor do I make profit with this story.

Give me an army....

The torches had been lit when Riddick and Vaako were led into the grand ritual hall, which was a breathtaking sight. It easily encompassed a full level of the city’s caverns. High columns holding up an ornamented stone ceiling and stone benches trailing along both sides of the hall while the middle was divided by a deep abyss spanned by a narrow stone bridge.

The high priestess stood at the high end of the hall, expecting them to be brought to her. By the glances the high priestess shot at them, Riddick guessed that she wasn’t completely ignorant of what had transpired in that cell. Her angered looks amused Riddick and he had to resist the temptation to place a hand at Vaako’s shoulder, to make her twice as angry. Instead, he turned and gave a short look
to the Necromonger. “You ready?”

Vaako’s green eyes were steady, calm and composed. Whatever he thought of the plan that Riddick had whispered to him during the night, he hid well. “Whenever you are, my Lord.”

The high priestess cut their dialog short. “You proved worthy of the great sacrifice,” she announced loudly for the assembled crowd of worshippers. “And these,” she raised both of her hands, holding a long curved dagger in each one. “are your weapons. When you enter the bridge, you are in the hands of the ancient ones. May they judge you.”

Riddick and Vaako ascended the bridge from different sides and both held their weapons ready, like they intended to fight for real. Even in this dreadful situation Riddick could appreciate the catlike graces of Vaako. The Necromonger moved on the small bridge like a panther on a tree branch, dangerous, deadly and damned beautiful. Riddick fell into an exaggerated attack position, his eyes holding the Vaako’s gaze of Vaako. “Let’s do it.” They both moved at the same time, a precisely timed mock-clash of them, like a first, fierce attack. The shouting on both sides of the great hall was telling them the audience was buying it, and quite happy with their eagerness. Riddick felt Vaako shifting his balance, following the same way, and together they jumped off the bridge and plunged into the deep.

***

Icy water caught Vaako’s falling body, the feeling so intense that it nearly made him flinch. It was very dark down here, he barely perceived Riddick, swimming rapidly to the right. Down in the dark waters they were fully dependent on his keen eyes. By the deliberate movements of him, Vaako guessed that Riddick had found the channel at once. It had to be directly before them. Exerting all his strength into his swimming, Vaako followed Riddick into the rocky channel that led out of the abyss. The walls were very narrow, pressing so close, often hindering his fast movements. He had to marshal all his willpower to conquer the panic blossoming in his soul. Nevertheless, he swam even faster to escape this damned dark channel. A painful burning erupted from his chest and slowly extended towards his strained lungs. Vaako conquered the panic by concentrating on swimming as fast as he could, the icy water cooled down his muscles slowing him down even more. The rocky walls of the channel seemed to be drawing closer and closer by any moment.

Like a shadow out of dark water he saw Riddick turn left and followed without hesitation. The walls were even narrower there. He barely managed to slip through this place. He never knew how Riddick managed to do this so effortlessly. The burning in his lungs turned into a hard, painful hammering staccato. Somewhere between the shadows of the black waters a second turn appeared and they reached a shaft rising rapidly. The wish to breathe became almost unbearable as he approached the faint light of the surface with what was left of his strength. A long knife seemed to slice through his lungs as he slipped beneath the last rock barrier and saw the light above drawing close. Barely suppressing a pained scream, Vaako broke through the surface of the water. His breath was rattling and he had to force himself to breathe slowly.

A strong hand helped him out of the water. “You all right?” Riddick’s eyes shone like little moons in the darkness. He hardly seemed to breathe any faster.

Vaako nodded, unable to speak right now. He smelled the air full of ash and molten ore. They were on the surface again. Now they had to make a run for it, before the troops of the priestess realised what really had happened.

They reached the ravine at dawn. Not that it made that much of a difference, yet Vaako found himself again thinking in the way time was measured here on Minerva Twelve. Vaako could clearly say that Ravyn had followed his orders and turned the ravine into a bridgehead for the army. Yet things looked like the second in command of the misfits was still in charge. Vaako felt relieved as they approached the outer barrier of the troops’ camp openly. They had eventually made it, they had walked the ashes, they had risen with the flame and fallen with the wave, and they had survived.

The distinctive sound of a dozen gravity guns charging ripped him from his musings. The troop – Vaako’s bunch of glorious misfits – had surrounded them, weapons ready to fire. “Look whom we got here,” Ravyn grinned broadly. “Come over here, my Captain, it’s high time you returned.”

Vaako froze in his place. Ravyn had refused to call him by rank from their very first day. It had taken Vaako a dozen victories over the tall man in blade fighting to make him just obey his orders. “What’s the matter, Ravyn?”, he inquired in sharp tones. “The Lord Marshal….”

“…is dead. The Purifier, or former first Purifier, has proclaimed himself the new Lord Marshal. From where I stand, it’s just one shot and the Lord Marshal is truly dead and a big promotion on the way.” He lifted his gravity gun in Riddick’s direction.

With one flowing move, Vaako stood between Riddick and Ravyn. “And from where I stand, the Purifier just proved himself an Usurper,” he replied. “It’s no knife fight, this time, is it, Ravyn? One more shot, and you are Captain yourself. With all chances to lick the Purifier’s boots. You’ll love this, I guess.”

“No, last time he pretended to lick someone’s boots, he ripped his feet off.” Riddick shoved Vaako gently aside and stepped towards Ravyn. “Never expected a murderous psycho like you to become religious, Rave,” he growled. “But then, you make the perfect Necro, murderous nut that you are.”

Ravyn’s composure split into a huge grin. “I guess so,” he said putting down his gun. “Strange to see you again, Richard. To see you have risen in the world.” Following his example, the rest of the troop put aside their weapons as well.

Riddick’s thunderous laugh let Vaako stand guffawed, as Ravyn and Riddick exchanged a comradely handshake. “Good to see you did not lose your edge. How did you get out?” Riddick inquired while they walked into the very heart of the camp.

“Broke fence just a month after you. With all the mercs on your trail it was a piece of cake.” Ravyn shrugged and pointed upward. “Breaking this fool up there out of your seat won’t be as easy.”

Vaako could hardly believe what he heard. “Ravyn?”, he asked before all the men they needed in order to do some serious planning arrived in the camp’s very centre.

“Did I ever mention that our most worthy Lord Marshal and I spent some time together in the Slam?” Ravyn chuckled. “No; I guess I never did.”

Riddick cut him short. “Time for old stories later. Is this assassin of a brother of yours still around?”

“Yep, we escaped together. He’s chief scout of this nice bunch.” Ravyn whirled around. “Chris, get those lazy apes over here, or I’ll have them skinned and their hides sold to the Lord Marshal’s glove maker.”

“Chris?” Riddick asked.

“He’s the in charge of the snipers,” Vaako hurried to explain. It had been a while that he had to lead a troop right under a Lord Marshal’s eye.

“I know this,” Riddick growled. “Or assume as much. Chris, how did you ever get out of Crematoria?” He asked the haggard man who just had called out half a dozen of names.

“Oh, I got shuffled about two or three times and eventually slipped out quietly. Faked death, then fell in with this bunch.” He replied. “Nothing as spectacular as you did.”

“You know this man?” Vaako found himself flabbergasted. He had heard the crude jokes of his troops about the Lord Marshal for six months, yet never guessed that they might actually know him.

“He knows even more of us.” Demolitions expert Adrien and his twin Bane walked into the meeting. The albino twin brothers, as always, moved in perfect unison. The man walking between them was the complete opposite of them: bronze skin and black hair made him look like the shadow of the twins. Vaako knew him to be the twins’ lover and a rather troublesome character on top of it.

Riddick grinned. “I feel like I’m taking a trip down memory lane. You got out too?”

“Would you believe they let us out early, on account of our good looks?”, the twins grinned.

“Sure. And I run the pleasure house on Iron Gates. I see you’re still a happily married triangle. Good, saves me the time to find another code-splicer.”

The dark haired man acknowledged the words with a nod. “Nice to meet you again, Richard. We called the doctor to look after your wounds, and that of the captain.”

“No doctor needed here,” Riddick decided.

“Doc Raj will be disappointed.” The twins now seemed to suppress a chuckle.

“Doc Raj?” Riddick know fully turned to Vaako. “Tell me, Vaako, did the army of the Necromongers by any chance invade a planet called ‘Deimos Anvil’ during the last couple of years?”

“Not that I know of. Why?” Vaako tried to find his composure again. It was rather obvious that his nice bunch of misfits shared some kind of history with the Lord Marshal.

“Because half of them are inmates I met there, in Butcher’s Bay,” Riddick explained, waving it off. “Let’s get to business. Rave, what’s the situation in details?”

Ravyn activated the liquid map in front of them. “We lost nearly all our landing points except this one and the one held by Commander Skar. The Purifier claims that you died along with Scales and the rest of his troop when you entered this cavern city. Most people believe him and accepted his claim to become the new Lord Marshal. The moment he hears that you are alive, he’ll probably have our camp here burned to cinders. I think most of the army would follow you, did they know that you are still alive.”

Vaako had listened intently. He had no trouble to read between the lines of Ravyn’s report. The army would accept the Purifier only on the basis that Riddick was dead, and would turn on him as soon they knew that Riddick was still around. But down here Riddick was vulnerable to a fast attack, launched by the Purifier. Vaako was rather sure that his former wife had inspired the Purifier in his quest for power. And if she was the one who did the thinking behind the scenes…

“Ravyn could report that his scouts retrieved your body from Morningdale. I am sure the Purifier would wish to see this proof himself and call the troop up to Necropolis,” he outlined the idea forming in his mind.

“And that would bring us close enough to strike at this son of a bitch and the ‘loyal’ subjects,” Riddick agreed. “But why don’t you report having recovered my carcass, Vaako?”

Vaako shook his head. “It would not work that well, my Lord. The Purifier would never trust me, he’d always fear I might try to retain my old rank and be extra cautious. If Ravyn reports having recovered your corpse he won’t suspect as much.”

***

Riddick watched the troop’s preparation for their next move. The moment Rave made his report, everything had to be ready for quick action. The Furyan was still amused that so many well known faces were among Vaako’s troop. Many of them had been among the more intelligent and capable Inmates Riddick had met during his time in the Slam. It was the first time he was among a Necromonger troop and felt completely at home. The tone of their speech was harsh, and only Vaako would ever use the term ‘my Lord’, but they spoke a language Riddick understood perfectly well. Short, direct, and always to the point. It spoke highly of Vaako’s abilities that he had been able to transform them into such an efficient troop. Right now, Vaako was completely focused on the preparations and Riddick had retreated into silently watching him. “Things are going rather well,” Rave had come towards him. “We’ll bring you into the great hall of Necropolis in a sarcophagus, as it is proper.”

“So the fun begins the moment they open it,” Riddick appreciated the idea very much. “You think the troop will be in position and able to handle it?”

Rave shrugged. “Ask Vaako, it’s his plan,” he replied dryly. “I was rather mad when we got the former ‘First among Commanders’, bloody loyal Vaako for a Captain. But I will say this for him: he is a good man, better than I believed he could be. And most of his plans worked so far, even two or three which sounded really nuts.”

Riddick’s eyes narrowed. “Good for you, you respect him. He must have taken you down a dozen times.”

“So he did.” Rave’s voice grew thoughtful. “Tough half the times he fought me during this first terrible month, I believe he was looking for someone to kill him. Someone who would plunge a knife deep into his heart, to make the pain go away for ever.”

“Make your report to the Purifier,” Riddick ordered. “It’s time we got moving.”

***

Night had fallen, cold stars were glistening in the night sky, a thousand burning jewels on a deep velvet blanket. Riddick heard Vaako’s light steps approach. “The troop is ordered to launch back to Necropolis in four hours sharp, my Lord,” he reported.

Riddick exhaled softly, the air was chilly and tasted of death; it never did anything else down here. “The name is Riddick,” he said, his eyes scanning the shaded landscape around.

“My Lord?” Vaako’s voice betrayed he was puzzled.

“My name is Riddick, and you will call me that. This eternal ‘yes, my Lord, no, my Lord, three bags full, my Lord’ is getting on my nerves. Besides, right now the Lord Marshal up there is the Purifier.”

“He isn’t. He’s just a power-hungry man who tries to claim something that is too big for him.” Vaako’s voice had grown cold as he said this.

“Like you did once.” Riddick observed. He saw Vaako turn and avert his gaze. By now he had learned to read some of Vaako’s body language. Vaako was ashamed and hid something which he did not want to admit. “Right. Like I did.” He admitted in a bitter hush.

Softly burying his hand in Vaako’s long dark hair, Riddick forced him to look him into the eyes. Vaako trembled slightly, but did not resist; his eyes were filled with a storm of emotions. “Tell me,” Riddick whispered. “Tell me, why did you attack my predecessor, who thought highly of you, and yet you stand with me, a fallen Lord Marshal, who took it out on you?”

He felt Vaako flinch, but did not let go of him. The green eyes seemed to burn. “I could not let him kill you,” Vaako’s voice was barely a whisper. “And I won’t let them, either.”

Steps hastily drawing closer broke into the moment. Riddick let go of Vaako, and turned towards Adrien who was approaching. “The Purifier changed his opinion. He wants us up there at once.”

***

The transport ships launched from the surface of Minerva Twelve. Riddick settled back into the sarcophagus, grinning at the plan. The Necromonger society would have their first Lord Marshal rising from death today. He had the distinct feeling that they were not yet done with this wretched homeworld of Vaako’s, but first he had to get control of the Necromongers again. The thought of the ravaged world below made him think of Vaako again, who was right now hidden among the troop. In the uniform of the Necromonger armour, he’d attract no attention. Outside the sarcophagus, Riddick heard the voices of the soldiers, prepping their weapons, talking in hushed voices. Inwardly, he smiled. He’d found his army after all.