Hey my shadows!
So just a quick announcement-
I've changed the fanfiction competition prizes!
The first place will still get all his/her awards, but there will also be a second and a third winner. The second and the third winner are also entitled to any chapter in the Tales book of their choice (within the same restrictions that apply to the first prize winner).
I will announce the deadline soon, but expect it to be somewhere around end of December! Thus far, there are only two entries, so third prize is still up for grabs!
If you're unsure of anything or uncertain about what kind of material you can enter, just take a peek at the COMPETITION page or throw me a DM.
Goodluck!
Fort Black (Part 2)
"Mine konta mou." I whispered to Nemesis and she pulled her hand up to clutch onto my cloak. It vibrated from her warm touch.
The air was colder down here, in the granary. Our breathing turned the air white and the blood flowing down into the tips of my fingers was slowing down. Even covered with thick leather gloves, my hands were still frozen. I could feel my sister's hand was shaking too as she gripped me close in the dark.
The grain cellar was the perfect hiding place- well, almost. It was far too cold for any creature, much less a cold-blooded one. The Gorgons had to have had some means of warmth here or they would never have survived. With the fort in ruins, cold air was finding its way into this once sealed off sanctuary rather easily.
It was pitch black, but luckily our torches were big and bright. I walked in front, with Nemesis by my side. Vikard chose to walk at the back with Moros, and Apate and Dolos were squeezed in the middle, much to Apate's annoyance. She pushed Dolos away a bit and grumbled; "If you step on my toe one more time..."
"Shh." I whispered and narrowed my eyes at them both. Dolos lifted his hands up in innocence and pointed at his dark-haired sister. Apate merely rolled her eyes.
"Stop." Nema pulled me back and shook me to a halt. "What?" I asked quickly and quietly, my eyes widening at her shocked face. I followed her gaze.
In the pitch black backdrop I could make out a faint, almost starry-like flicker. It was like a small firefly, twinkling in and out of the darkness. We stared at it for a few seconds, until Vikard whispered from the back; "What the hell are we doing?"
"Shh!" Nemesis shushed him too and pulled me closer. She leaned up to whisper; "Fire?"
I nodded my head slowly. It was a camp fire. I could smell it too; wood was burning close by. At first it was asked by the smell of damp grain and mold, but now it was more pungent.
"Stay here." I said and made a move to step closer towards the flickering light, but Nemesis and Dolos' hands on my shoulders pulled me right back. I shook them off; "Wh-"
"We go too." Dolos said quickly and shot me a pointed look. Moros wiggled through the group to stand next to me with wide eyes. "Is it them?"
"Let's find out." I pointed to the right, indicating for Dolos and Moros to split up to that side. With my other finger I pointed to the left and Nemesis and Apate quickly nodded and scurried down in to a crawling position and made their way over to a pile of rocks. They manoeuvred to the side of the cellar and out of site like shadows, whereas Dolos and Moros went up a flight of stone stairs and disappeared in to the darkness. Both teams douched their torches and embraced the darkness
Shadow, who was curled up around my waist, purred and flew up into the sky and plastered himself to the high ceiling. He dashed over towards the flicking light like a lizard scaling a building. I let him do his thing.
And so, I was left with Vikard. Great.
"Well, commander?" He said mockingly and crossed his arms, dropping his torch to the floor and tramping it with sand to extinguish the flame. We were swallowed by the dark.
I beckoned him closer with a long finger. "Follow my lead."
Vikard scoffed with a hushed tone, but said nothing. He followed me towards the light. We walked a few steps until it became clearer, and when we spotted the opening in the cellar around a corner, our steps slowed down and our breathing nearly disappeared. No noise could be heard as we rounded the corner- except for the crackling of the small campfire.
I lifted my hand to signal to Vikard to stop. He did. Just in time too. One more step and he would've triggered a trap rigged on the wall beside him. I pointed to a thin wire close to his feet and Vikard leaned down to examine it, but then, just as quickly as my eyes had caught the firelight reflecting off the wire, they caught the movement of scales.
I ripped out my dual scythes from mid-air and slashed one straight at the attacking Gorgon. A loud screech filled the old cellars and Vikard ducked out of the way just in time before the other sister had the chance to dig her long, sharp nails into his back.
"Ahh!" The taller one screamed as she leapt out and slashed her claws at my face. She nipped my cheek and I felt the blood run down my cheek. They were much faster than I thought.
"Thanatos!" Nemesis yelled and jumped up from her hiding spot, exposing herself and Apate. I shouted at her to get back, but it was a feeble attempt at keeping my bloody sister at bay.
Nemesis slashed her sword across the Gorgon's back, which merely caused the old snake to turn around in anger rather than actual fear. A spotted some blood escape her wound, but it quickly healed. The Gorgon sister raced toward Nemesis with wide, green and bloodthirsty eyes.
Suddenly, Apate jumped up from the side and smacked the Gorgon back with the heel of her boot. She grabbed Nemesis and pulled her back towards the rocks for protection. Shadow took a go at the Gorgon, confusing her at first, but she made a move to bite him. He evaded the attack just in time- not that it would have done much. Shadow snarled with his jagged teeth and the Gorgon smacked him away like he was just a fly. Shadow splatter against the wall with a groan. I don't think I've ever heard Shadow groan.
Meanwhile, behind me Dolos and Moros were struggling with the second sister. She was stronger than the first, but not as fast. I was momentarily in awe- I'd only ever heard of these monsters. I knew Athena had dealt with Medusa once, but that was a long time ago. The Gorgon's were broad and big, and their eyes nearly white with anger. The snakes covering their scalp hissed with mighty fury.
Dolos pulled out his daggers and slashed a few cuts across her chest, ducking every time he got too close, but the last slash left him open and the Gorgon back-handed him into the wall. She held his throat in her hands and squeezed, but Moros yelled with anger and grabbed her head in his hands. He climbed onto her back and pulled out his sword, ready to plunge it into her neck.
Vikard drew his spear and aimed at her chest, just in case Moros missed, but he forgot about the wire at his feet and stepped right through it as he was busy aiming. The wire snapped and shot three arrows into the side of his waist and with the sudden painful jolt; Vikard's spear was thrown with a powerful jerk, straight at my brother's head.
Luckily, Moros saw the spear coming his way and he managed to swing out just in time. It bedded itself in his shoulder and broke through the back. Moros was thrown from the Gorgons' back, but Dolos had found his daggers and quickly ducked up from below her feet to push one of them into her stomach.
"Skotose toys!" The Gorgon screeched to catch her sister's attention as she ripped out Dolos' dagger and smacked him aside with more annoyance than fright.
We were still busy with the other sister; she was fast, but not very strong. I tasted blood in my mouth from the gash in my cheek. It had already healed, but the blood had flowed down quite heavily. I jumped up just in time as the Gorgon howled with anger at seeing her sister wounded and whipped her tail at my feet. It swished past me at a colossal speed, but I landed gracefully and rolled towards her feet, swiping my scythe across her ankle and nearly taking her whole foot with me.
The sister yelled out in pain, but wasn't about to stand still so we could finished her off. She ducked and rolled out of the way as Apate's arrow flew past her face. My sister reloaded her bow at lightning speed and tried again, but the Gorgon sister was incredibly agile. Nemesis was caught dancing around in the middle; her sword drawn, but her chances of managing to strike at the Gorgon were slim.
I spotted Dolos on the floor with blood matted all over his face and Moros in the back of the cavern with a spear sticking out of his shoulder. My eyes widened with shock, but Apate's cry of pain brought me back to the scene. The other, bigger Gorgon who was dripping blood from her stomach had caught my sister's neck in her hands and instead of dropping her weapon and grabbing her dagger, Apate was wildly swinging around, trying to plunge her arrow into the snake's chest.
Nemesis charged for the sister, but was tackled by the other, faster sister. Shadow zoomed in to help Nemesis.
I stormed towards the Gorgon dangling my sister, but just as I got close, the monster snapped my sister's neck. "Ise ena tipota!"
Apate's feet stopped moving and her arrow shot forward, shooting into my leg. I dipped down into a sliding position and slid the rest of the way. With a hard pull, I yanked the arrow out and shot up. I ploughed into the Gorgon and broke through the back, wooden wall. We tumbled over a few flights of stairs, but I quickly got my gripping on a broken railing and pulled myself up.
I spotted Apate's lifeless body laying the rubble. I was beyond my rage. I was murderous.
I knew Apate would wake later- she was a goddess, and nothing except Cronus sickle or my father's dagger could really kill her, but just seeing her like that made my blood boil.
Nemesis and Shadow were still struggling with the other Gorgon, but at least they had the others to help. Vikard had pulled the arrows from his waist and was now helping Nemesis corner the sister, while Dolos prepared to jump at her from behind. Moros was still struggling to dislodge the spear form his shoulder.
They would be fine without me.
All I could see was red and rage.
I drew my scythes and grabbed the Gorgons' foot. She was still on the floor after our unexpected tumble, but as I touched her skin, she waked up with a jolt and slashed her claws across my cheek again, opening the old wound. Blood flowed like a red river.
"Leave me!" She shouted in Greek and attempted to decapitate me with one clean swing, but I wasn't that easy to kill.
I grabbed her arm as she swung and held it tightly in my hand her eyes widened with fear as I lowered myself onto her and hissed back in our native language; "Do you know who I am?"
She growled right back at me, but did not answer.
"I am death!" I felt my body light up with the electricity of Blood magic and before I knew it, it'd broken through her wall and cracked into her mind. The Gorgon grabbed her own neck with both her hands and squeezed. I faintly heard her cough and splutter out; "What are you doing? What is this evil?"
I didn't answer, just watched and waited for her neck to snap too.
She squeezed and squeezed, her hands tightening with each passing second until she begged one last time; "We did n-nothing to you. Why do... t-this?"
I didn't answer.
I didn't care.
The life faded for her eyes slowly as she strangled herself to death, but just before the last rays of light faded, her eyes caught the sight of her sister being attacked from all sides by the others. She let out a small cry; "Stheno..."
I assumed that was her sister's name, but frankly, I had little patience left. Even less care.
I signalled to her mind to let her hands drop and she sucked in a deep breath of relief when she felt the noose loosen around her throat, but it was short-lived.
I grabbed her neck and snapped it.
I dropped her head onto the stone, cold floor and my vision cleared a bit. I stood up and turned around, catching the eyes of Nemesis' worried face.
"Euryale!" The remaining sister shouted in anger and heartache when she saw her sister's limp body. She spat at me as Vikard, Dolos and Moros tried to restrain her, but she was far too powerful. "Murderer! Demon!"
She charged at me, screaming in a frenzy.
Just as she reached me, I ducked down and replaced myself with a doppelganger. Her teeth bit straight through my neck, as her claws ripped into my arms. The mirage crumbled to dust and her revenge was quickly dashed onto the rocks. I plunged my scythe into her back and twisted it.
Her spine cracked and the last Gorgon in the world fell onto the stone floor with a smack.
One half of my face was covered in dried blood, my leg was smeared and a piece of wood from Apate's arrow was still embedded inside the flesh, but I felt... invigorated.
I walked straight over the dead monster and dropped down to Apate's unconscious body. I tucked her into my arms and picked her up off the dirty floor. When I turned around, everyone was staring at me with wide eyes. Even Vikard. Shadow just floated there with a big smile and a chirping upbeat purr. He liked seeing this side of me. It was the side of me most resembling him.
I ignored them all and walked out slowly, my leg cramping up. I tried not to limp.
"Vikard; get your men to fetch the bodies." I said calmly, even while the blood was still pumping loudly in my ears.
Stay close - "Μείνε κοντά μου" "mine konta mou"
Kill them - "σκοτωσέ τους" "skotose toys"
You are nothing - "είσαι ένα τίποτα" "ise ena tipota"
*Small note- I've changed the face-claim for Dolos