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It wasn't difficult for Grendel to surmise that the Spear was affecting Cernunnos even while it affected him. He wondered what it was saying to the Angelique, if it was making similar promises or something else entirely. Cernunnos looked pained, and Grendel inwardly chuckled. Finally, the stoic mountain had some expression! Now, how to get him to give up the damn Spear?

He didn't know how much was safe to say to the Angelique. If he told him that monsters were hunting vampires, what was to say he would even care? The Crusnik would just be doing the Holykats job, only better. Besides that, Grendel still didn't know who had even created it (still assuming that's what he was going to find at the end of all of this) and if he had to guess, Holykats would be at the top of his list.

So, what could he say instead? He had a feeling Cernunnos would be able to tell if he was lying. What if he said something he simply wished was the truth?

A slow smile curled up his lips. "I intend to use it to destroy Caine. I will be the new, and only God of all vampires. His old ways harm us, cripple us, and I am the new way. And like I said, Cernunnos, something far worse is coming. You may find that we fight on the same side, one day, and you will be glad of it."

He wondered if the Angelique would buy it.

The silence seemed to last for a long time while Cernunnos appeared to deliberate. Grendel waited because that was all he could do. He thought about what his next option would be if this didn't go the way that he wanted, what he might say next, and how he could convince this hulking idiot to just give up the Spear.

He knew that eventually, it might come to a fight, and while he wasn't sure it was a fight he could win, he was damned determined he wouldn't be leaving without what he'd come for.

The case was opened, and Grendel was once again assaulted by the call. It was stronger this time, and much, much more insistent. The things that Cernunnos had said, the repercussions of attempting to hold the spear, those all flew out of his head. He had a clear path now, his eyes bright, burning, and focused on the prize.

He couldn't stop himself from taking the few steps forward, closing the distance that was needed. He could barely think passed the urge to reach out to it. There was nothing else in his head but the promises it held. What common sense he normally held was now quite absent.

He reached forward and wrapped his hand around the Spear.

The explosion of energy might have knocked Grendel to the ground, had he not been holding onto the Spear. It was like nothing he had ever felt or experienced before, every fibre of his being electrically charged with it. The voices slid through his head, taking hold of him and he shuddered. A tingle began to work its way up his arm and he fought against it, pushing with his own Godly powers back down toward the Spear, trying to tame it. It may have enticed and overwhelmed him, but he still fought to be in control.

The way his palm began to seer with pain told him it might be a losing battle. Hissing out a sharp breath from behind clenched teeth, he still fought. He fought against the voices while his skin turned to ash before his very eyes. He fought to remember why he truly needed the weapon. He fought because deep down, beneath the onslaught of power, energy, and promises, he still knew what mattered more to him.

He let out a long and guttural growl.

"How about a little help?" He snapped at Cernunnos, the pain in his eyes very clear. Surely someone who feared the weapon as much as he did had thought of some way to control it. You know. Just in case he was stupid enough to let someone take it.

Grendel didn't even notice the chaos that swirled around the room, far too busy with that which he was struggling with in his body and mind. He was trying, so hard, to keep in control, but with every moment that passed, he could feel himself slipping further and further back.

When he heard Cernunnos's voice faintly through the din, he turned his face slowly toward him, his lip pulled back to reveal sharp teeth. His shoulders and chest rose and fell with effort, but he managed, somehow, to reach with his free hand for the glove. His eyes were beginning to bleed black, his unbound hair hanging wildly around them. He used his teeth to pull the glove onto his free hand, either not able or willing to let the Spear go for even a second.

Slamming his now gloved hand down on the Spear, he was able to remove the one that was now fried almost completely beyond recognition.

The change was instantaneous. Grendel slumped forward, shivering from the effort he had exerted to maintain control and not lose himself completely. His whole body ached, his skin, and even his hair felt like it was in pain. The whispers still slid through his mind but the edge was taken off of them. The connection was still there, but it was, at least for now, manageable.

The effort to straighten himself was almost too much. He closed his eyes and nearly slumped forward onto the floor, but he somehow managed to keep to his feet. He took a deep, steadying breath and opened his eyes.

"Thanks." He said, rather gruffly.

"Am I free to go?"

It was a strange feeling. He was nearly drained from exertion and yet he held what seemed to be the most powerful weapon in existence in his hand. Of course, it was tempting to give in to desire, to do any one of the number of things that the Spear was telling him he could do. He could use it to kill Caine, something that he longed to do more than anything else.

But that had never been his intention. He hated his Father, but patricide was a sticky thing. He knew his own ambitions, and he knew that he would rather earn them through respect. Taking it by force, while enticing, could just end up backfiring on him, in the end. There were still many who worshipped Caine, after all, and they may not take his death so well.

He was relatively young, he had strong aspirations for himself, and he still had so very much to learn, but he tried not to be a fool.

Cernunnos's words, while a warning, only served to remind him of what he could now do. He wanted to tell the Angelique to shut up. The whispers were already making such promises. He kept his silence, however, and simply nodded his head.

You may end up losing that which you care for most in this world.

Those words were the only ones that made him hesitate. Only a few days ago, it would have meant nothing to him. What did he care for? He had been an empty shell, alone and bitter. There would have been nothing to lose.

And now....now he had found happiness, and already there was a threat that it could be taken away. As if sensing his pause, the Spear became more insistent, and he closed his eyes, pushing back, pushing away those thoughts, the hesitations, and tried to regain focus.

"Sure, got it, a whole lot of destiny, all in my hands." He used his power to desummon the spear, and gingerly moved the glove from his good hand to the one that had half burnt away, noting that it had not healed. He flexed his fingers, then curled them up into a fist.

It would still do.

'I'll be back soon, Cernunnos." He had, after all, given his word. He would use the Spear for what he needed it for, and then he would return it.

In the next moment, he was gone, riding the darkness back home where he could figure out what came next.