Prologue

October 31st 1945

17:47

Ally Occupied Germany

Hannover, Eastern Germany

Colonel Isaac Rainbrough pulled into his driveway in his black 1940 Chevrolet sport. It was raining heavily. He thought twice before opening the door to get out. He stood up, and stretched his tall and muscular body. He was completely bald, save for a thick blond mustache that he would have been unrecognizable without. Yet, despite his hulking appearance he preferred a kind word over violence (although to which he was certainly no stranger). "Home at last." He thought and certainly as far as government housing went this was top of the line. Above the gate, the black letters spelled out "Tageslicht Manor".

The rain pounded the stone slabs that made the path to the front door. They were rocky and well carved and two torches illuminated the entryway. It seemed to rain harder and harder all day. Had Rainbrough not been wearing his favorite flat cap, and his gray trench coat and surely his bald head and his uniform would have been drenched. He popped open his olive colored umbrella and began the march to the steps of the manor. One by one he climbed the stone stairs till he reached the porch and he was covered by the awning. He stepped inside, changed his shoes, and gave his umbrella a few shakes. It had been a long day of intel reports and briefings. None of them were good. He took a moment to reflect on them, mostly he was thinking how to inform several new and unfortunate widows back home in the states.

"Its all over. We've failed. I've failed. We lost. And they won. The veil has been severed. There's no stopping any of them now." Rainbrough sighed hopelessly to himself. He removed his hat and placed it solemnly on a rack by the door. He rubbed his mustache thoroughly, pondering over what he was to do. He decided that in the end it was best to handle this day the way he handled most other days. He would light his tobacco pipe, and sit down to read in his study. There weren't many vices Rainbrough chose to partake in. But, he could never refuse good tobacco. And just the day prior, an old friend had sent him as a gift some of the finest that Chesapeake had to offer. He had opened the bag and smelt it this morning before he had left. It had a thick and bold chocolatey aroma to it. Rainbrough had decided to leave it in his study for when he returned - just incase today was indeed the sort of day he had suspected it would be. And it was. But when he went to the living room to collect his pipe, it was no were to be found.

"Holly !" Rainbrough called for his wife. "Dear, have you seen my smoking pipe?"

"I literally just gave it to you !" Holly called back from the kitchen.

"Yes love, but I left in a hurry this morning and I forgo-" Rainbrough began, but Holly's hot tempered nature begged her to interrupt..

"No, I just handed it to you! And you already misplaced it? You'd lose your balls if they weren't stuck in your scrotum ! Are you feeling ok? Why did you go back outside? It's been raining like Noah's ark all day ! You idiot !You'll catch death out there !" Holly walked out of the kitchen with a rag and wiped down Rainbroughs face. He gazed back into her hazel eyes, and beautiful blonde hair.

"... I see. Apologies dear. I am very tired and maybe I am a little under the weather. I had forgotten some briefing papers in the automobile and I had gone back out to collect them. I must be losing my marbles." Rainbrough said puzzledly.

Holly moved towards him. She pouted her lips and wrapped her arms around his hips. She moved real close to Rainbroughs face and looked deep into the eyes. "What's wrong? You were in a completely different mood when you walked in earlier. Are you feeling ok?"

"Oh I was ? Sorry dear, I don't know whats come over me. I do feel a little ill and tired. But truthfully? I've had many good days here, and this ? This was just not one of those. I believe it's best if I retire for the night to my study. We lost more than a few good men today, and there has been a few major setbacks." Rainbrough said his mind raced to keep up. None of this was adding up. But, he decided it was best to stay the course for now.

Holly frowned "You seemed in high spirits when you came home, you kept on saying what a great day it had been? How did things change that fast? Your confu-si"

Rainbrough pulled her in close and kissed her very forcefully. He caught her by surprise. But she returned his affection. She began to rub the back of his neck, just the way he liked it. And then, Rainbrough just as suddenly as he had embraced her, he pulled away. He looked at Holly, her face was a flush red color.

"Why'd you stop?" She said in an exasperatedly soft voice. She nuzzled her head into Rainbroughs chest and began to kiss him softly up the neck. "Its not nice to tease."

"I'm sorry my sweet honeysuckle, but days like this take time to sink in. I fear I need to clear my head a little. I'll explain more to you later. For now, can you make dinner? I know it was my turn to cook tonight but I just don't have the energy." Rainbrough sighed.

"Fine. Don't expect any steak or eggs benedict. And it's your turn to cook tomorrow AND the next day !" Holly groaned. She already knew exactly what was for dinner. Brautwurst sandwiches with a side of "Go fuck yourself" served lovingly over some green beans.

"Horrible, the war is finally over, we've won. But somedays it feels like I'm still losing." Rainbrough said in a grave voice. Holly gave her husband a warm embrace. He rested his head on hers briefly. He kissed her softly and walked up the grand wooden staircase to the second floor. Then, he turned left and followed a narrow spiral staircase to the third. He could hear the rain pound the roof of his home and the thunder cackle and roar outside. "Storm's getting worse. Strange, they didn't call for rain this evening." Rainbrough thought as he rubbed his forehead.

Rainbrough reached the third floor and walked down the dark hallway to the door at the end. Gently, he opened the door to his study. He looked inside, everything was exactly how he had left it. The royal blue carpet to the room lay clean and untouched, tall bookshelves containing everything from "Sherlock Holmes" novels, old maps of the world, various cultural histories and of course several english-german dictionaries lined the wall. A banner over layed with his family's coat of arms adorned the wall adjacent to the book shelves. His telescope still sat neatly behind the large bay window, just behind his large mahogany desk. But, his swivel chair was facing towards the window, he had distinctly remembered leaving it facing the door this morning. The desk stood on the other side of the dark room. The skylight above normally illuminated the room with moonlight, but the only sources of light were the bolts of lightning that filled the sky. Rainbrough could just barely make out between the flashes that there was a large figure sitting in the chair.

"How rude, typically my guests wait in the foyer for me to return, and typically they announce themselves." Rainbrough said nonchalantly.

"Well am I not a guest? I am the master of this abode." said a low laughing voice sitting at a chair behind Rainbrough's grand mahogany desk. The chair spun around to reveal none other than another Rainbrough sitting there, wearing the exact same uniform, exact same blond mustache, and the exact same bald head ! In the eye's however, although they were the same color they lacked any sort of expression or emotion. Instead, they were hollow and empty. It was almost as if the being looking back at Rainborough did not have a soul.

"Ah, a Skinwalker? Curious, curious. Always something new. I guess you were the final piece I was looking for today. None of it quite made sense until now, the past few months of investigations. They said the sword of Joyuse had been stolen from its secure location in Le Louvre by none other than the museum curator himself. However, the sword was not in his possession and at the same time, nearly a hundred witnesses placed the man on holiday. In Portugal of all places. Now, unless he was capable of bilocation, I'd have certainly said that none of this would be possible. Seems as though I was right." Rainbrough deduced.

"And now, there you sit. With my smoking pipe might I add. By the way, I want that back. And I'm not askin." Rainbrough put on a stern look at this. He wasn't afraid, nor angry. He knew the outcome of this encounter as soon as he had demanded for his smoking pipe, and his damn tobacco fix for the day..

"Don't confuse me with that filth." Rainbrough's copy retorted back. Its eye's glimmered as if there was something hiding behind them.

"Then, what are you? Clearly you shapeshift, do you not? I mean not that I really give a shit." Rainbrough replied. At this point he was just drawing out the conversation.

"I, am a Lekura. We, my kin are what a skinwalker begs to be, but can never become. They are cursed animals that merely wish to mimic us. They aren't half the being that we are. They are imperfect, and we? My kin are the definition of perfection." sneered the Lekura.

"Ah a Lekura, I see. Well, Senior Lekura, what is your plan? The sword of Joyuse turned up today in or rather what was left of it. It was shattered into pieces, only the hilt was left intact. That is after it raised a city block in Prague. Whatever you were trying to do, it's been done. God help us now to deal with the consequences." Rainbrough shook his head. "And now? Clearly, tonight you've come to the final loose end tied up? Is that right ? I am to meet the ferryman on the other side?"

"Resigned to your fate? Good, I gathered from your men you where the brash stupid type. Arrogant and refusing to surrender. What a waste. Mehr Glück als Verstand" the Lekura spat.

Rainbrough knew enough German to know this meant "More luck than brains" but he didn't react to the insult. Afterall, he was a humble man who knew that history would judge him based on his actions. Not his pride.

"After I've disposed of you, I will assume your life. Undetected, unbothered. I will live comfortably and I will be able to influence the changing world around me for the bidding of my master." The Lekura continued. "It won't take long to reignite the old flames that were put out eons ago. Old flames that had seen little to no light until recently. Old flames YOU and your allies snuffed out."

"All's fair in love and war. These so-called "flames" won't burn long. You can count on that. Besides, thanks to our efforts, the scars of the war have begun to heal. Slowly but surely, people are learning to help each other again, to care again, and even to love again. It's like seeing the coming of spring after a long winter." Rainbrough replied softly.

"You disgust me. Your compassion for the weak , the inefficient and the inferior. Only the strong and the efficient have a place in this world.You think yourself kind but you are nothing more than a maggot rotting out the tree. I will make sure to scrub the world clean of your kind whilst wearing "your smiling face !" The Lekura hissed at Rainbrough still maintaining his likeness. It rotated its head around in a circle, just like an owl, it stretched out a long forked tongue and rolled its eyes. The doppelganger stood up in a hurry then and lunged across the mahogany desk sending knick knacks and papers flying.

"I've seen scarier things in Nana's attic." Rainbrough exhaled in a disappointed tone.

The Lekura hissed and clambered over the desk. It got down on all fours and began to charge Rainbrough. But just then Rainbrough reached into his shoulder pocket and pulled out a silver pistol. A special issue colt .45 he had custom ordered back in America. In the blink of an eye Rainbrough racked the slide and fired one round at the Lekura. But when he pulled the trigger no sound came from the weapon. Instead a large flash of light devoid of sound filled the room for a brief moment. The projectile erupted out of the weapon almost as if it were in slow motion and it struck the doppelganger square in the throat. The Lekura onto his back clutching its throat rasping for air.

"Y-you b-bastard! Y-y-your s-s-s-u-p--p-p-p-posed to d-d-die !" hissed the Lekura clutching its throat. Its skin began to crack and fall off revealing the hideous monster beneath. Now on the ground before Rainbrough laid a large scaly dark green reptilian humanoid. Shock and terror filled the creature's eye. Its mouth gaped open, trembling as though fumbling for words. The creature looked into Rainbrough's eye's expecting to find mercy, but was horrified when those eyes stared back with nothing but an executioner's steel cold confidence.

"We're always dying from the moment we're born, some just die faster than others." Rainbrough smiled and walked towards the creature.

"N-n-no ! Stay back " it screamed as it began to crawl away. Ranbrough reached down and grabbed the top of the creature's head. With his other hand, he brought the heavy colt down and pressed to the back of its dome. He squeezed the trigger a second time, and another soundless flash of light ripped out of his weapon. Blood erupted in a cone pattern from the front of what had been the crown of its forehead. It splattered all of Rainbroughs desk. The Lekura lay dead and motionless on the floor. Blue embers simmered softly from where it had been struck by those strange rounds Rainbrough had fired into it. Its eye's lay open cold and black, void of any life.

"Damnit. What a fucking mess. Shoulda thought that through more." Rainbrough walked over to the rotary phone sitting on a small table across the room. He dialed a number and spoke "Yes hey mam. I uh, spilled some ink and now I need a cleaner in the office at my personal residence. And please be sure to inform Ms. Agatha that this matter requires her urgent attention. Yes, we can discuss it over tea and scones. No... They're definitely called scones. Biscuits are for dogs. All kidding aside, however, I think it would have to be within the next hour. The matter at hand is a little urgent."

Rainbrough hung up the phone and sat down. He looked across the table, and found his smoking pipe sitting down on top of the early morning newspaper. It was written in German, but Rainbrough was able to read it. Fortunately most of the blood spatter missed his pipe. He wiped down the few droplets that had made it on and he opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled out some of his treasured tobacco and stuffed it into his pipe, then he lit it with a match. He puffed deeply into the pipe and began to read deeply into the paper. There was an article from the French associated press about some strange wolves ravaging the countryside.

"Very peculiar indeed." Rainbrough thought to himself. He waited, knowing soon another knock was to come at his door. It would be his liaison to British intelligence. Once they had cleaned up the Lekura from his study floor, this would surely be something of note to bring up with them. "Hmm, it has been a while since I've really given old Jack-Jack anything of note. Perhaps I'll find a way to bother him with this in a while. Besides, I hear he's got some shit hot squad under his command these days. Hate to see their potential wasted." Rainbrough smiled. He took a few more hits from his pipe and walked down stairs to inform Holly (much to her chagrin) that they would be expecting company.