Love or Not

Chapter 17: Letting Go

The cave walls began to shake, and debris began to fall. The centuries-old cells could not take the onslaught of Ares's rage and Zee's yell of triumph when he rebounded his efforts to keep Ares pinned to the wall.

Zee and Zeus would give no purchase until the tread had secured Ares, and they could feel when he finally gave up. When Ares stopped struggling, Zee released his arm, and the whip fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Zee did not waste any time and ran to Nu lying on the cold floor. Stroking his face, he pulled him into his lap and held him. Even the humor of Zeus and his golden thread did nothing for the despair that hit him when he saw his lifemate unconscious.

Tears pooled in the corner of his eyes, and suddenly he felt helpless. All the rage drained from him as his heart began to break. Calling his lifemate's name, and when Nu did not answer, he started crying in earnest.

He had to be alive. He just had to. He looked up at his father-in-law in fear, and his eyes pleading for help he knew Zeus was sure to give. He was losing control, and there was nothing he could do to change it. His whole life was lying in his lap, not moving.

"Son, pull it together! Nu and the children need our strength. You can't fall apart now. Check on the nibblings. If your children are not taken care of, your lifemate will never forgive you," Zeus said sternly.

Sobering, Zee, staring into his father-in-law's eyes, realized he was right. He watched Zeus kneel in front of his son, put his hands on his chest, and push his light into his body.

Nu's body, any other time Zee had pushed light into him, had glowed brightly even when everyone considered him low on energy. Not this time which scared him even more. But suddenly, he saw a small burst of light as if he was seeing it from a distance come up from Nu's chest.

They had decided the best choice was for Zeus to push God's light into Nu to replenish his light faster. Zeus was honestly unsure if it would change his son even more by pressing his light into him, but there was no choice, and his life was too important not to risk whatever may happen.

Nu sustained extensive damage, and he needed to do it quickly, or his son and grandchildren would be lost forever. If they lost Nu and the children, they would lose Zee too, which would drive Ares insane.

Zeus's head hurt from all the possible connecting dots. Zee was so distraught that he almost forgot what Zeus had told him and what he was supposed to do, and his fear overtook him.

His job was to check the children, HIS CHILDREN! His mind was sluggish, and he quickly forgot the miracle his lifemate was carrying.

"Dragon, APPEAR! Where are my children? Show me now! I need to know they are all right. They must be all right," Zee screamed before a sob tore through his chest and out his mouth.

As they raced to get here, neither knew what to expect. Now that Zee's mind was focused on his children, he hoped the orb would not be damaged.

A stone ball appeared before him, growing bigger before his eyes. Why are his children in a stone orb? Was this his father's doing or the dragon? When it stopped growing, it bounced in front of him. The dragon's eyes appeared red in appearance against the gray stone.

"My master's lifemate, you have come. It is about time. Your children were scared, your lifemate was on the brink of death, and you failed to appear before your evil father beat him again for the second time. Even my children are not this vicious," sniffed Lóngshén.

As the dragon unwrapped his body from around the orb, he could see his twin children inside. Reaching for it, Zee took his children carefully in his hand. He stared with his mouth open in awe. His daughter was snuggled in his son's tiny arms. Zee heard the sweet voice of his daughter in his mind.