TWENTY-EIGHT
After seeing my wings, the creatures pointed out the last direction they’d known Lilith to be in. Many claim to have spotted her headed towards the City while others have said that she was headed to Mayur. There was a lot of confusion as the groups began to fuss about who was right and who was wrong. It took us a while to get them under control. We finally decided our best bet was to make our way to the City. If Lilith wanted to cause a scene, she would to do it while the creatures of Pearu were in a fight with the Gods.
We left Arwid with a group of soldiers that was ready to help us fight. Others stayed behind shouting things that we were on a fool’s mission and its best that we not get involved with the elite affairs. The journey from Arwid to the City was a tense one. You could feel the rumble of anticipation rolling off the soldiers. Some of the soldiers didn’t have any family to leave behind so they had no problems joining us. However, there were a few who kept glancing back at their neighborhood as it disappeared from view, as if they would never get a chance to see it again. I felt terrible that I was pulling them away from their families, but if they wanted their families to be able to live safely, this could not go on any longer.
The minute our boots touched City limits, our weapons were drawn. Arriving in the City, it was easy to detect the smell of fire and smoke. The carriage cabin was empty of its owner and I took it to mean that he’d gone to join the battle. My father was gathering anyone it seemed in order to fill his vendetta.
We exited the forest and the made our way down the curve road. There was nothing else left to shield us from the view of the guards or any citizens. As we got further down the road it seemed clear that no one would be on the lookout for us. The clanging of metal sounded in the night air along with growls, screams, and explosive booms. We were close to the fight. Coming upon the end of the street, I squatted low to the ground and waved my hand for everybody to lower as well.
Peering from behind the wall of a building, I stared at the streets that were littered with debris. There were two creature bodies that lay dead on the ground, their bodies covered in slashes, their heads cleanly removed.
“This is it.” Dyos whispered. “The day our lives change forever.”
Dyos was right. Today we would either make history by stopping both the King and Eris or we would make history by being the ones who let the world of Pearu be destroyed.
Turning around to face the creatures behind me, I asked. “Are you guys ready?”
They nodded with excitement riddled on their faces. It was now or never.
Stepping out from behind the wall, I walked into the streets. There was no one in the direction to the right. Buildings appeared to be deserted. The only sign of life inside them was the moving of the curtains in the window. As I turned left, I felt my eyes widened at the sight before me. It was like a nightmare. There were creatures everywhere. They swung their swords with fierceness at their opponents, the Gods. The Gods stood tall, their armor gleaming despite the fiery smoke in the air. Their movements were somewhat dancelike. There footwork showed that they was not in a hurry and could easily dispatch their opponent if they wanted to. They swung their weapons that slashed through the Creatures of Damned, freezing them before slicing them in half.
Up ahead I saw Astraea as she battled a Minotaur. She didn’t seem to be having any trouble as she swiftly got rid of the annoying beast. I watched her rip a bolt off her bracelet before tossing it to Zeus who stood behind her. Zeus caught the bolt without looking back and threw it at the creature that was running towards him.
One of my father’s soldiers turned and saw us waiting in the street.
“It’s Aristaeus!”
At the sound of my name, many of the creatures rushed towards us, feeling that they would rather handles us than that of the Gods. Some of them weren’t so lucky to get to us, as the Gods had cornered them from running towards us. A demon ran at me as I ran forward to meet him. I gave my demos one quick swish as it stopped the running demon mid-way.
My soldiers rushed past me as they grabbed their own opponents. The guards didn’t seem to be much to handle. They’re footwork was sloppy and so where there hand movements. Because I had been banned, they had no one to really guide them on how to properly fight us. It would be an easy win for us.
Two more guards ran towards me as I dodged one of their blades and kicked the other in the stomach. The guard I kicked flew a few feet away as I took care of his friend. The guard swung his battle axe wildly, slightly nipping me on the arm. The cut stung for a second before I felt it healing. The guard glanced at my arm in surprise as I gave a smirk. He didn’t know that I could heal myself now.
While he was distracted by my healed wound, my blade glided across his throat finishing him. The other guard that I’d kicked, had snuck up on me. His arms circled me as he tried to wrestle my demos to the ground. The claw of my jugest dug into my shoulder as the demon pushed against my back. Deciding to play dirty, I stepped on his foot as he screamed out. I further made the pain worst by stabbing his foot with my blade.
It was enough to get him to back up off of me. The guard hobbled back grabbing his injured foot. Dyos, who had just finished killing off his own opponent, swung his knife in my opponent’s back knocking him down.
“Have you seen her yet?” He asked.
“Not yet.”
Lilith and Eris still hadn’t shown their faces. I wondered for a second if we’d gotten it wrong. Maybe the plague really was coming in three days. By that time we would be vulnerable. They had to know like I did that we would not last with a fight against the Gods. Maybe they were counting on the Gods to take care of the majority of us so Lilith wouldn’t have to. That could have been why she was speaking with a God.
I snapped out of my slight distraction and jumped back into the battle. I had made my way from the middle of the street now up to the front of the street. As I maneuvered through the battle, I noticed the tons of bodies that had begun to pile up. I didn’t want to even imagine how many of my kind had already been killed. I got rid of a couple more guards when I noticed my father. He stood within the fray dressed completely in his battle gear. His eyes were on Zeus whose attention was on the Hydra he was fighting.
My father made his way towards Zeus, his hands glowing with strange orange electricity. He’d done it. He’d somehow mastered some kind of power that resembled the light that Lilith often shot out of her hands. Astraea seemed to notice him moving towards her father at the same time that I did. She jumped in front of her father’s back prepared to defend him. My father’s eyes narrowed in anger. He didn’t like Astraea just as much as he didn’t like Zeus. His hands shook as he prepared to send the ball of light towards her.
I didn’t dare hesitate. I ran with demon speed slashing creatures out of my way. Astraea stared at my father, her weapon drawn. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she would not allow him to hurt her father. My father released a growl of anger as he shot the ball out of his lands. I landed just in time to block the ball with my sword as it bounced off. The ball collided with the back of one of the Gods as he his mouth opened in a silent scream. A burst of light appeared around him, and then he disappeared.
“Dionysus!” Astraea cried.
My father stared at me blocking Astraea as a look of disgust rose to his face. “So I’ve guess you finally have chosen a side.”
“You left me no choice father, you banned me.”
“You betrayed me!” He yelled out.
His weapon came out as he ran at me. I pushed Astraea to the side as I blocked my father’s hits. The two of us danced around with our weapons, the metal clanging against each other. I didn’t want to hurt my father despite the anger I had towards him. He was still my father, and I loved him.
My father swung his sword at my head as I lifted mine up to block it. “Father, you must call off this madness. Can’t you see you’re losing?”
&nb
sp; “Shut up!”
“No! I’ve shut up for a long time and allowed you to run the country however you wanted to. Well no more. I won’t let you turn our world into ash because of your vendetta.”
“You do not understand my vendetta.”
“Your vendetta killed Kiowa!” I yelled.
My father took a step back and looked at me. He wasn’t as unaffected as he liked to make himself out to be. The death of his wife had shaken him to the point that he actually looked as if he was on a verge of breakdown.
“Father, please just call this off. She wouldn’t want you to do this.”
I tried to plead for my father to see reason. As I hope for a second that he would, it slowly diminished. My father’s face changed back into his usual face of composure as he stared coldly at me.
“The Queen would want me to stay my course and teach you a lesson. It’s time that you remembered who you are?”
My father face began to change as his body shook with trembles. I stared at him in horror as I he called forth another power. Whatever the power was, it was taking a lot out of him. He looked as if he was about to kill over the way he shook and paled.
The use of such a strong power had caught Zeus’s attention as he turned to face my father. His face was filled with alarm as he pointed his staff at him. It was quite clear that he was about to control my father when the sound of huge booms sounded in the air. These booms were different than those of the ones from the God’s weapons. These booms shook the ground as we all fought for balance.
Turning to the left, we watched as two Giants ran towards us. They were followed by a group of creatures that were dressed for battle. In the middle of them, riding on a chariot, was Lilith.
Lilith’s attention was enough to snap my father out of calling the death striking power. Instead he faced Eris as the orange glow return. The ball shot out of his hands and headed towards her. The Witch smiled as the ball neared her. Leaping up, she caught the ball and hurled it back in our direction. The ball moved so fast before our eyes, that we had no time to block. A groan came from behind me as I turned around.
My father lay on the ground.
His body shook two times…
And then he was dead.