Chapter 24
Damon
We raced outside to see Haven on fire. Explosions rang out everywhere, alongside the warning sirens. Smoke and fire rushed out of every building. Haven was dust and dirt, baked under a cloud of darkness. Even though the ground glistened like rain had fallen, the liquid that rained down wasn't clear but red.
Blood.
As the darkness enclosed the campus, we could hear and see the fearful blow of the explosions, the noise of glass breaking and raining down, the hoarse howl of Haven.
"Is this-"
I cut Leo off, "Yeah," I said looking up as the moon was blocked out and with it, all sound. Darkness had taken its stranglehold, squeezing life out of everything in its path and consumed every ounce of light. It was so dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I called out to Leo and Milo who were just standing next to me, but no sound came out of my mouth. It was so tense that the silence was as thick as the blackness. I lit my hand on fire trying to use it as a torch, only for the flames to die out.
What?
I fumbled around until I ran into Leo who tried to speak to me, but I heard nothing. We found Milo, and again we heard nothing. They knew we couldn't stay here, there were people still on campus that needed help. Namely, the children. But I couldn't communicate that.
We're buried in darkness. Alaric ran head-first into me, and I could see he wanted to shout something at me but was just as shocked as I was by the lack of no sound. Before we could even register what was happening, Leo turned our heads', and we were face to face with a Shade.
But this was different, it was at least seven feet tall and hunched over. It's hands dragging on the ground with its bloody red finger-like claws. We could see every bone in its body desperately trying to escape the black as night skin. It had no eyes, no nose only a carnivorous smile that looks sharper than any blade I had everything.
Normally, a Shade would only be three feet tall and easy to kill. This...this was unheard of. We didn't have time for this, we needed to get to the children. I grabbed everyone and we teleported to the primary school dorm.
Ouch! It felt like something had bit me on my shoulder. I ignored it for the most part, but it hurt like a bitch.
Individually I got everyone's attention and pointed towards the school. I didn't know how this was going to work out since none of us could talk to each other, but we would make it work. Alaric told me to stop holding his hand up I did. He went into Milo's backpack and pulled up some rope and wrapped it around his waist wanting us to follow suit. Clever. We did. At least this way, we wouldn't lose each other in the darkness. Hopefully.
I took the front while Leo and Milo stayed in the middle with Alaric in the back. This wasn't going to be easy. Carefully, we made our way into the building. We didn't even make it around the first corner before we were running into a Shade that had the body type of The Rock.
Oh shit.
I held up my daggers ready for a fight only for Milo to cave in the ceiling on it. Still staring forward, I gave Milo a thumbs up.
This was going to be a long night.
Freya
I opened my eyes for only a second to see I was still alive. I was being dragged by my foot by the giant demon spider that I was sure was going to eat me alive. It wasn't long before I felt like passing out again.
I needed to act. I had to stay awake.
We stopped moving and the spider backed up, positioning itself over me as if it was trying to defend its meal. I couldn't fight against myself anymore and I passed out, sinking away into a pit of pain and darkness.
When I woke up again, blinding white light shot down on me over a dome glass ceiling. I could see the slow blinking red light from the tower more brightly. I felt sick, and every muscle in my body hurt. I could tell I was in the clothes Roman gave me. I think the spider ate through all my armor...and most of me. I tried to sit up only to find I was tied down on a surgical gurney with my arms at my side. I looked around to see I was in a surgical room straight out of Silent Hill. The tile walls were filthy with grime, blood, and cockroaches. My nose immediately wrinkled in disgust. I had never smelled something so pungent in my life, it was so strong it had to be a concoction of vomit, spoiled meat, unwashed clothes, and animal droppings. The stench brought tears to my eyes.
"I've seen a lot in my days, but I've never seen a demigod untrained." A deep ruffled voice said coming from the corner of the room.
I twisted my head up to see a man standing in the shadows. He was nothing but muscle on muscle and even though his gray hair and thick beard would make me think he was older, he didn't look a day over thirty-five. He wore dirty brown Greek robes that left one of his nipples exposed. He stood ten-feet-tall with a scythe in his right hand and a Ouroboros embedded into the blade. He was with The Order? "Are you death?" I croaked out.
"I will be, with your help," he stepped out of the shadows dragging his scythe behind him as it made small embers in the ground. He walked towards me like a giant staring down at me with violet eyes. "Which of the Gods bore you?"
My eyes grew wide has he raised his scythe holding it inches away from my neck. I struggled under my restraints with no luck to break free. With a wavering voice I said, "Why?"
His eyes narrowed and fear tainted my body. This man actually scared me, I had no problem standing up to Zeus or Ares, but this man made my blood run cold. He ran the pointy end of the scythe down my throat until it rested right above my navel.
Now was not the time to ask questions, or try and be tough. That didn't work with Poseidon and it wasn't going to work here. The only problem was, I didn't know if it was better to tell the truth, or to lie? All I could remember was what Leo said by the pool the first time we talked about demigods being highly sought-after. I can't count how many times Damon had brought up The Order using me to breed, "Hercules. Hercules is my father," I exclaimed.
He looked disappointed for a second before saying, "You'll have to do."
That didn't sound good.
The gurney started to separate my legs wide open.
This really didn't feel good!
The man went to stand at my feet.
Okay, Freya think! Think! What does he want from me? What is his main goal? "Who are you, my Lord?"
If there ever was a time for me to be overly polite and revert to how Poseidon wanted us to behave in Atlantis, now was the time, "I am Cronus, King of the Elysian Fields."
And former King of Olympus before Zeus took over. This was Zeus's father. Being a dick runs in the family, "Why are you here? Living among..."
He boomed, "My army? Every day they grow stronger, and I come closer to taking back Olympus."
He started to undo my pants. I started to wiggle around trying to escape his grasp, "No! No! You don't have to do this!"
"Our offspring will be warriors, and together we will-"
"Erebus and Nyx!" I said panicked. I would throw everyone under the bus if it meant escaping this, "Erebus and Nyx are planning on attacking Olympus! They probably already have an army! They declared war! You don't need me; you just need to join them!" Not my finest moment; selling everyone out, but if I could just get out of these ties.
As I struggle, trying to break free of my restraints, I felt the dagger Damon had given me. I just need to get it off my hip. But I needed to buy time. Cronus paused, "Apollo told me himself!"
I could feel the dagger, I just couldn't get it out of its sheath. Damn it!
Cronus came to stand by my head, at least he wasn't trying to rip my pants off, "And what has Zeus done to warrant such behavior?" He demanded to know while I kept working on trying to get my dagger out.
"I don't know that, but I am not an ally of the Gods or The Brotherhood or The Order. Zeus wants to destroy me. Poseidon kidnapped me and is now in Tartarus serving a sentence away from the sea as punishment." That caught his attention.
Cronus grabbed my face with a dirty hand, and roughly held me by my chin. "And why was Poseidon interested in you, Daughter of Hercules?"
I almost had the dagger out, "He wanted to usurp Zeus," I stammered out.
He raised an eyebrow, "So my children are fighting against each other... interesting."
Got it!
As soon as I held the dagger in my hand Cronos snatched it away quickly and dragged it across my cheek leaving a deep red cut, "Your little weapon will not work on me, child."
"Give that back!" I spat.
"Not a chance. For one of Hercules offspring, you have a lot of fight..." Before Cronus could even finish his sentence, the dagger started to glow a bright blinding red and returned to my hand.
What? I was dumbfounded by what just happened.
I didn't understand how or why that happened, but I quickly acted. As soon as the dagger was in my palm, I cut my arm free only to have Cronus throw down his scythe to barely miss my head. I shot up in pain to a sitting position, then I made quick work of my other hand and flipped the table over using it as a shield. Even though the metal gurney was on my back, Cronus swung his scythe and it cut through the metal like warm butter.
I was free!
Cronus stomped his feet and the whole room started to shake as I fell, dropping my dagger. From the dingy light above, I could see Cronus standing over me raising his scythe held high ready to chop my head off. I somersaulted out of the way, only to escape with a slash on my side. I dove for the dagger, only for Cronus to grab my ankle and pull me off the ground, like a fish he just caught. He slammed me against the concrete wall.
I dropped like a sack of flour to the ground. I could see my dagger out of the corner of my eye. "You will not beat me, girl." He was right. I wouldn't be able to beat him. But...
I stood up, using the wall to steady me. My gaze found the only way out was the dome glass ceiling.
"Come here!" I shouted looking to my blade, hoping my hypothesis was right.
Like a miracle, the blade started to drag itself to me as I dodged Cronus's attacks and like a boomerang the blade was back in my hand.
Left. Right. Left. Down.
I was doing a pretty good job of dodging Cronus's attacks. Until a violent scream erupted from his mouth as he raised his foot high and it connected with my rib cage sending me flying through the concrete wall into the dirt street.
Pain exploded through my head all the way down to my feet.
Get up! Get up!
I could bitch about how much pain I was in later, right now I needed to get up. I needed a plan for how I was going to find Philip and not to get killed by Cronus or the demons he's been collecting.
I would give anything in this moment to turn invisible!
Cronus slowly approached me, and on weak legs I forced myself to stand up and run. Hobbling down the dark street, I felt eyes on me. The demons were close, but I had no idea where. Strong hands pulled my hair, forcing me to the ground. Staring up, Cronus came into view and this time he wasted no time getting on top of me.
This was it. I had no more fight in me.
Cronus forced his fist down my throat, choking me while the other hand started to rip my pants off. Searing fiery bursts of pain pulsated around me, intensifying with each breath I took, jarring and brutal. My bloody muscles quivered, and my consciousness ebbed. Black mists swirled at the edges of my mind, drawing me into a sweet oblivion.
It wouldn't be long now.
With my face in the dirt, I saw my dagger lightly begin to glow weakly in my hand. I could feel my tears mixing with the dirt.
My breath seemed to stutter in my lungs before I let it go, feeling the tension drain from my body. My breathing returned to normal, and I felt as if I could face the problem.
I let out a burning ball of air that was searing the walls of my lungs. I bit down hard on Cronus's hand feeling my teeth become sharper as hot air exploded out of my mouth. He tried to pull back, but I bit down harder, and like a jet taking off, I exploded my fire element on to him, searing and burning his skin.
Without thinking, holding my dagger firmly in my hand, I ran it across Cronus's throat. I was drenched in his blood, like a bloody baptism. But he wasn't dead, and this wasn't over.
I felt stronger. Like I could win. And kill.
I opened my mouth freeing him, only to rip his jaw off then shove it back into place, beating him with his own jawbone. I raised my hand with the dagger and jammed it into the top of his head, then I mercilessly dragged the blade down, through his face splitting his head in half. Cronus fell dead on my shoulder.
In silence, I laid shocked at what I just did. Did I just...?
I was dripping in blood, and slowly I turn my head to look at the now dead Cronus. My eyes widen with horror, as I felt my whole body shake as an unholy cry escaped from my mouth. It was the kind of scream that made your blood run cold. It pierced the brain and ignited some primeval pathway in me. I could feel my heartbeat... every single pound in my chest. I couldn't lay there, I had to, but I couldn't. This great pounding, this great pressure, every beat, I couldn't hear it, but I could feel it. I feel it still, beating, pulsing, thumping. Every beat was a turbulent push from within, pushing as if a giant placed within the chest, as a great wave. This pressure, this horrible pressure made me want to stand up.
To push on.
I pushed Cronus off me and I sat up to see the twin demons staring at me at the end of the street. I wasn't terrified of them; I wasn't going to run away. I wanted to face them head-on, I had a blood-lust rage to take them down by any means necessary.
I stood up pulling my jeans up with me. I stare down the demon duo with a smirk.
Okay, let's do this.
And without a second thought, I raced towards them with my dagger in hand. They turned and ran as I began my hunt.