* * *
Outside the cave, the battle stopped as a blast of fire filled the blue sky. The men and animals stopped to stare at the fire burning in the heavens. One man ignored the spectacular scene and continued his fight against an Eversor clone.
Romulus lunged at the clone, catching him off guard while Eversor stared at the sky victoriously. When Romulus’ sword lodged into Eversor’s body, Romulus expected him to disappear into black smoke. However, Eversor pulled the sword out of his stomach and tossed it aside.
“It’s not that easy to kill me, Romulus. It seems we are at a standoff here. You cannot kill me and unfortunately, the only person who can kill you is already dead. Tell me, do you feel any remorse for murdering your twin, or did you enjoy the sensation of death?” Eversor taunted Romulus, unaware of Brian behind him mumbling a power-binding spell.
Before Brian finished, Clover tackled Brian to the ground. Romulus pulled out his dagger and willed his sword to return. Eversor threw a grey energy ball at Romulus but he dodged it. The ball crashed into a Roman soldier behind Romulus.
Romulus lurched forward to aid his fallen soldier but the man was dead before he hit the ground. Cursing and angry grunts regained Romulus’ attention. Brian and clover wrestled on the ground, Clover winning the quarrel.
“Go!” Cailean shouted and took Romulus’ place. Romulus ran to help Brian and left Cailean with the real Eversor.
Clover’s teeth inched closer to Brian’s throat with every snarl. IT took all of Brian’s strength to keep the angry wolf from tearing him apart. He held one forearm in the wolf’s throat and the other one just below her ribs.
Thunk!
The large wolf collapsed on Brian’s chest, knocking the air from his lungs. Clover’s eyes rolled in the back of her head and her tongue hung out of the side of her mouth. Romulus stood over Brian with his arm still raised from bashing Clover in the back of the head with the hilt of his sword.
Lupa growled, displeased with Romulus.
“Really? Would you have preferred I cut her head off?” Romulus snapped.
Lupa snorted at his remark and bounded off to help other soldiers with Eversor clones.
The sun reflected off something shiny in the dirt next to Brian. Romulus bent down and picked up the wolf pendant that Elpis ripped from Breanna’s neck. Romulus helped Brian to his feet and showed him Bre’s half of the charm.
“Where did Elpis take her?” Brian asked as he frantically searched the battle.
“Not sure, but wherever she is, she failed to save Anath. That explosion in the sky was the Phoenician pantheon dying an extremely fiery death.” Romulus quickly deflected an attacking clone and slashed its head off. “I do know, however, that without this amulet she is vulnerable to possession. With the amount of eagles around here and Elpis roaming free, and apparently victorious, Bre must be under her spell, or…”
“Don’t say it,” Brian warned, pointing a finger threateningly at Romulus. He could not stand the thought of Breanna being dead.
Out of the corner of his eye, Brian saw Leora stalk towards a cave to the right of where they stood.
“There. They must be in there,” Brian said pointing to the cave.
When Leora entered the cave, an eagle let out an ear-piercing screech.
Brian ran towards the cave, but Romulus grabbed his arm and yanked him to a stop. “Wait, she’ll need this too.”
Romulus pulled off his own wolf pendant and held it next to Breanna’s. When Romulus pressed his half to Breanna’s, the two pieces reunited. The two wolves once again stood side by side, glistening in gold as if they had never been separated. In the reflection of the wolf, Remus smiled up at his brother. The image of Remus quickly changed to reflect an eagle descending down on him and Brian.
Both Romulus and Brian turned to attack the bird, but two arrows lodged into the bird’s chest and dropped the eagle at Romulus’ feet.
“Nice shot, Eoghan,” Brian acknowledged his skilled aim.
“Brian, go help your brother, he looks like he needs it,” Romulus demanded, motioning to Cailean who struggled against Eversor’s magic.
“Bre. We need to help Bre,” Brian said and turned back to the cave.
“No, we are needed here. Eoghan, however, is not.” Romulus firmly grabbed Eoghan by the shoulder and looked him in the eyes. “How good are you with that bow? Can you get the bird without being in the cave?” Romulus pointed at the gold eagle that kept squawking at Leora.
Without a hint of arrogance or concern, Eoghan silently reached back, grabbed a single arrow from his quiver, and nocked it in his bow. When he pulled back the arrow, the horsehair strings and the arrows shimmered in a silver light. The arrow shot forward and lit up the darkness to reveal Bre and Elpis unconscious on the ground. When the arrow found its target, the gold bird fell to the floor and the light disappeared.
“Bre!” Brian tried running to Bre, but once again, Romulus held him back.
“Damn it, man! I said help your brother!” Romulus shoved Brian at Cailean. “Eoghan, help Bre and put this pendant around her neck. It will prevent any possessions. She will then at least be able to help us kill that damn demon woman!” Romulus sprinted off to fight other Eversor clones.
Eoghan sighed at his trivial task and casually walked into the cave.