The Pentagram Child: Part 2 (Afterlife Saga Book 5)

by Stephanie Hudson

  The most ruthless of creatures that were once used in the Titan war against their own kind. Brontes, Steropes and Arges were the sons of Uranus and Gaia but more importantly were also brothers of the Titans. The stories got it wrong in thinking that Zeus released them from the dark pit of Tartarus when it was in fact he who imprisoned them here.

  This was easier to do as once the Titans themselves were imprisoned, the Cyclopes turned into immortal stone as there was no fear of their release without also releasing the Titans; reasons because they themselves were the only ones that could wake their brothers from an eternal slumber. One they had just been woken from.

  They were giants that the myth of monsters were based on. Creatures with little thought process out of the realms of loyalty and destruction. The chaos they were capable of could level cities to dust in mere hours. And now all that stood in their way were the six of us and a bravery that matched our fallen ancestors, ones that now lived on as heroes throughout the ages.

  And we would do the same… for we would die the same.

  Fallen immortal Kings and Heroes.

  “ATTACK!” I roared holding up my sword and running for the monsters that came for us. The remaining Titan, for a time being, was held immobile and I put this down to the exertion of energy used. Still I didn’t hold faith that this would last. However it at least gave us the time we would surely need if we were to defeat this creature as one.

  I leapt up into the air just at the right time as all three Cyclopes jumped as one from the side of the mountain. The space we used as a battleground looked half ready to crumble from the impact, as great chunks of it fell away into the glowing abyss below.

  The triple beast was three giant bodies of armoured muscle void of the need for skin. It was a mass of solid tissue chiselled for one need and one need only…strength for crushing your enemy.

  Their heads were covered in crudely hammered iron helmets that sat square to their shoulder as they had no necks. They each had a barred window in the centre for their one eye to see out of and the whole thing had been screwed into their flesh.

  This wasn’t to protect them by any means but it had once been done to protect us. I knew this down to the three large, thick chains that hung down from the top of the brim around the edge of each helmet. This was also the same for each slatted breast piece they wore; strips of metal that had been forged together with the sole purpose of holding back the beasts in an attempt to contain them if they ever awoke.

  Well contain them it had not as all the ends of the chains were bent and broken links from where they had been given the strength to break through. Massive chains of likes you would see on ships and the very same to what had not long ago helped contained their brothers. Well this time they were used to bind the brothers together so they had to move as one, being connected by lengths of chains attached to the gauntlets they were forced to wear. They hung down in swags, giving them limited movement between them and the broken lengths coming from their helmets and chest pieces swung around like wrecking balls.

  They roared in anger and growled at each other when one wanted to move one way and the others didn’t agree. This was our only advantage….so I took it! I let my wings fold so I dropped down on the middle one’s back and drove my blades home into their hardened flesh. They went in but only so far and unfortunately for me, not enough to do much damage. It was enough however to set them off in a greater rage. The middle one twisted trying to dislodge me and therefore forcing the ones either side of it to twist with him.

  I jumped free, drew in my blades and landed with a roll so as not to get crushed by their colossal feet.

  “DOM, LOOK OUT!” I heard my sister scream and I rolled again just before the last Titan could strike me a killing blow. I put enough distance between us to do a back flip until I was facing the approaching Titan storming my way. He was the last one left and because of this, it also made him the most powerful being I had ever had to fight.

  “You deal with that! And I will deal with him!” I gave my order knowing that either foe would be a challenge for us all. I decided to let him know what he was in for and I extended my weapons until the tips scraped the floor. He cocked his head, causing his charred flesh to flake at the neck and looked at my weapons a moment before fire ignited in his eyes.

  “Don’t do it…don’t you....” I was cut off in my mutterings when he started to grow his own double blades from his wrists, mirroring my own. I rolled my eyes and groaned,

  “This should be interesting.”

  “Thanatos” The Titan rasped, trying out his first word spoken since the beginning of mankind. It grated along my skin and that wasn’t down to knowing what it meant…Death.

  “THANATOS!” The Titan Pallas thundered after throwing his arms behind him in his fury. Obviously I wasn’t taking him seriously enough, I thought dryly.

  “Yeah, yeah…Not today Titan!” I said but then added more after all I got was an angry, confused look back…

  “Koprophage!” I said further in response, which meant ‘Eat Shit’ in Ancient Greek, at which he threw his head back and roared at the top of the mountain.

  “Oh yeah, you understood that.” I said as he lowered his head and snarled at me.

  “You want me dead, then come and fucking try!” I snarled back and at that we both charged at each other with both of our blades igniting at the same time. I jumped and lashed out at him using the momentum of my fall to add power to my attack. He blocked my blades with his own held over his head and they sparked on impact.

  I spun my body round and tried getting him off guard but by the Gods he was quick. He blocked every attack and matched me move for move. The last person I had fought with a skill that matched my own had been Lucius when he had still been a member of my council. That thought made my blood burn hotter with the knowledge of what was to become of my old adversary. Death wasn’t a pleasant experience for any being but for an immortal it was an even greater loss.

  “Lucius.” I whispered his name in prayer just before I swiped out at Pallas and barely missed his head. As the move twisted my body I wasn’t quick enough to counteract the kick to my ribs, feeling them crack as I flew backwards in the dirt. I flipped up and round on my hands and looked up facing the other battle being fought. In the one second I had spare I saw the Cyclopes trying to kill not only my allies but also my family.

  The feeling of helplessness overwhelmed my senses and I hammered my fist on the ground in anger before raising myself up for what I knew was the last round. For one of us would die fighting or… die trying.

  “Alright, let see what you’ve got. COME ON!” I thundered at him before I charged once more. He held his stance and the second I got near the real fight began. We slashed out at each other over and over so fast to the human eye it would have been a blur of bodies and blades. I got in my first hit and didn’t stop to take in what the damage was, only the need to cause more driving me.

  I kicked out, tripping him up and the tip of my swords hit dirt instead of a Titan’s chest. I growled in my frustration but then looked up too late to see his blade coming for my head. I twisted saving my face from being cut in two but the blow landed across my naked back.

  “Ahh!” I shouted out in pain before attacking right back. It was as if he was getting quicker the more we fought and I was getting weaker. It was only after his blade found its mark on my body again that I knew why. He was drawing in his energy, his greater power from me! I was being drained like my kind does to a human, only it wasn’t just leaving me weaker, it was leaving me defenceless!

  I went to block with one arm and found my other being held by the wrist to prevent me from striking out with my free blade. He leant forward and said again…

  “Thanatos” before he kicked out my legs causing me to land on my knees before him. So this was my time? This was where I would find my death, at the bottom of this hell hole defeated by a God that I myself released?

  Then so be it.

  I knew of
the utter chaos going on around me and the great loss we would all soon endure, in not just our immortal souls but in the rest of the world. But in all this pandemonium around me there was also a moment of peace like I had never known. If this was the end then my mind was welcoming it with only two things…

  An image of Keira and complete silence.

  I could see the fatal blow coming down at me like a flaming meteorite falling from the night sky. I had no defence left and saw the green cloud of death fall over me as the blow obviously took my life. My last thought was simply the most beautiful thing on the planet…

  Keira.

  It was access to memory after memory of every time she smiled at me. It was her snorting on the bed after tickling her. It was her drunken ramblings on the couch about tea bags. It was seeing her in a dress and the way the skirt twisted around her and clung to her body as we danced for the first time. It was holding her through the night. It was telling her I loved her. It was making love to her. And it was the way she looked when she ran to me in the lobby and took my hand.

  The way she trusted me after all I had put her through…

  It was the way she loved me back.

  It was perfection.

  And that’s how I died. Watching perfection…

  “Keira.” It was the last name I ever wanted uttered from my dying lips.

  Then BOOM!

  I was unsure what was happening but it sounded like a bomb had gone off and the shockwave rippled underneath me. I expected there to be shrapnel ricocheting off my broken body but I felt nothing. I looked at the green mist in front of me and focused on a pair of wings I had never seen before just as I heard his voice…

  “Nope, definitely not Keira.”

  “Can it… be…?” I said in an awe that was produced by the tiniest amount of hope that seeped into a desperate mind.

  “Did you miss me?” I sucked in a shuddered breath to try and hold back my raw emotion of a relief, one so great it was like feeling it for the very first time.

  Because if this was real then it meant only one thing…

  Life for us all.

  “Lucius.”

  Chapter 52

  Venom swallowed, sliced and delivered

  “So I take that as you did miss me.” He said smirking as he held out his hand for me to clasp and before helping me to my feet. I looked back behind me in disbelief at the sight of the Titan so broken it was taking longer for him to heal.

  “How?” I said in wonder, as not even I knew this could happen.

  “What can I say, it must be the God in me.” Lucius said looking as smug as ever.

  “Don’t ya mean the ‘blood’ in you...? Whats’up Toot’s royal beef cake?” The Imp named Pip popped out of nowhere and patted her master on the arm before nodding to me. I had never known a creature like her and was sure I was never to meet another in my lifetimes to come…It was a humbling revelation knowing I could now say that, thanks to Lucius.

  “You saved my life.” I blurted out finding I obviously had no filter when it came to near death experiences…um, who knew I could be so impulsive.

  Pip smirked and just nudged an uncomfortable looking Lucius on the arm, causing him to clear his throat as though trying to find the right words to say.

  “Yeah well…old habits die hard I guess.” He said making Pip roll her eyes, causing her garish fake pink eyelashes to flutter. I, on the other hand, burst out laughing before saying,

  “Don’t you mean, there is a first time for everything…my Brother.” His eyes widened at the grand gesture I just made and instead of a cocky remark he simply nodded his head in respect.

  “Ok enough of this mushy shit, what are you a bunch of silly girls…? What’s next a tea party? ‘No, no you can have my Barbie’…’no, no I insist, you can play with her first’…Bla lala…MAN UP! Come on Bitches, we got shit to fight!” Pip said in her cryptic way that left us both frowning and shaking our heads as she walked away with an exaggerated swagger.

  “Translate?” I asked my former second in command.

  “Bollocks if I know, but I am pretty sure she called us prissy little girls.” Lucius said crossing his arms and staring after his pintsized lieutenant.

  “Yeah I got that bit but what’s a Barbie?” I asked before I caught sight of one person that was more than needed down here right now.

  “I thought you could do with reinforcements.” He said following my gaze to Adam.

  “We could use some help over here!” Sigurd shouted over to us as they still dealt with the Cyclopes. They had managed to get the chains wrapped around their legs and they were currently in a tangled mass trying to break free.

  “That won’t hold them for long.” I said looking sideways to Lucius and the grin he gave me was one that made his eyes glow with fire.

  “That’s why I brought my own monster.”

  I couldn’t argue with him on that as I had seen for myself the destruction his monster could cause and to say it was impressive was an understatement. We both looked back at the Titan to see him not only on his feet but also it looked like it was finally his turn to be summoned…and our time had just ran out.

  “Looks like I’m up…you go and save our Keira girl. I will deal with him.” Lucius nodded to the Titan that was looking up at the mouth of Tartarus as if waiting for his calling to the mortal realm.

  “Quickly Lucius.”

  “You know Dom, I think your vessel is getting wrinkles with all this worrying you do.” I laughed as I walked away and said,

  “Yeah and it’s called Keira!” But I couldn’t pretend I didn’t hear him mutter back to himself,

  “That it is my friend…that it is.”

  I ran over to where everyone stood a fair distance from the Cyclopes brothers all trying desperately to escape their bonds and from the looks of it, they were nearly there.

  “Dom you have to go now, you have to get to her before Sammael realises what you have done!” Sophia shouted to me over the chaos and I noticed her limping towards me. The thought that she had been injured made my demon howl in anger. I knew she would heal but that knowledge didn’t calm me or the beast.

  “DOM!” she shouted my name and I shook the murderous thoughts from my mind.

  “Focus! I am fine, I will heal, however Keira will not if you don’t get your Hero ass back there!” She was right of course, they could handle it from here but by the Gods only knew what he might do to her when he found out I was capable of stopping the Titans…Blood bound or not.

  “Go cowboy, we’ve got this yo! Oh but could you do one tiny fav before you go?” Pip asked again popping out of nowhere. Before I even had chance to acknowledge her she slapped me on the back and said,

  “Good man. Now all I need you to do is hit my Kong.” I frowned down at her and shook my head once as if not hearing her correctly.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “You know, you’re the King, now I need you to hit my Kong…King Kong…see?” She said pointing to her chest and the picture of a giant ape hanging from the empire state building.

  “I’m still not following.”

  “I believe my Lord she wants you to punch me.” Adam said bowing his head and being respectful as always. Pip jumped up on him and wrapped her legs around his waist, gave him what sounded like a sloppy kiss and then removed his glasses. Then she jumped down and said,

  “Yeah, what he said, ‘cause then that way when he goes bat shit crazy ‘Kong style’…” She said moving an army vest full of badges out of the way and poking once more at her chest before continuing…

  “…then that way I don’t have to try and stop him from eating you…oh better hurry ‘cause those three look like…” I didn’t let her finish as I turned to Adam and said,

  “My apologies” before punching him across the jaw, causing his head to snap to the side.

  “Whoa! There you go…did you hear that crack…I think they heard that all the way back in Lust! How are things back in Lust these days?” Pip
turned and asked my father who had returned back to his former self. He grinned down at her and said,

  “Very well my child, you should stop by some time and let me show you around.” This in the end would have been all it would have taken to set Adam off because at that he broke free from his mortal bonds and became the beast of all beasts.

  Abaddon.

  “Oh poor baby, he didn’t mean it, now did you…this is when you back track Lordy Lust man!” Pip warned as she cooed to her husband, the biggest beast of all. At that moment I would have laughed in the face of seeing my father looking worried for a second, if of course getting back to Keira wasn’t my first priority.

  My father backed up and Pip patted the massive leg the skin of which was made from the bones of his victims, ones the man part of him didn’t even remember taking.

  “Hey it’s not him that wants to sex me up, it’s those three over there! Go get ‘em tiger!” Abaddon turned his head to the way she pointed just as the Cyclopes broke free and roared at the sight of the new beast. I couldn’t help but think the three brothers would be in for a shock if they thought they could win this fight. They might all have been the same size but nothing known to man could beat Abaddon…The Dark Lord had made him that way.

  I took one last look around as I cast the order for my Angel side to call me back and I smiled when I saw Lucius cracking his neck to the side as if ready for the fight.

  The last thing I heard before the battle began was a little Imp’s roaring voice shout,

  “LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!”

  Lucius

  “That it is my friend…that it is.” I muttered to myself knowing I had the same affliction that affected Dom and that it was little, blonde and had trouble written all over her…and by the Gods and powers that be, if she didn’t survive this then they would find Hell at their gates and me leading the army. Shit, but I would be the next one releasing the Titans if that happened! Well, that was after I sent the bastards back first. Speaking of which.