Sorath's demons had bridged the river of fire, Phlegathon, and had marched across the Plain of Judgment, attacking Hades' lands. Demons and Heroes were destroyed in these small battles. Although a spirit cannot be killed, in human terms, a spirit can be destroyed, when their etheric energy becomes depleted, they simply fade out of existence: A fate far, far worse than the death that every mortal fears.
With a new civil war about to break out, Hades summoned his best heroes and the Furies to a council of war. The Furies, under Tisiphone, were appointed the Commanders of the Heroic army. Hades promised divine intervention in the event the demons harmed any Hero. Hades ensured that their spirit would survive and be transported back to Elysian, and allowed to regrow and become as new.
The same can't be promised by Sorath to the demons.
After multiple attacks on all sides of Elysian, it was time to put a stop to Sorath's rebellion. He was not going to be stopped by defeat. Hades figured he'd have to banish Sorath to a new part of the Underworld, the "Cells."
Hades constructed the long, black prison cells out of the densest igneous rock found: Black Granite, also known as Plutonic rock. It was so dense, not even the sharpest chisels would cleave the rock, it had to be carved using magical axes supplied by Hades himself.
It was to serve as a place of confinement for any spirit that wouldn't stay confined to Tartarus.
The Cells rose from the vast plains of Tartarus, tapering into the heights, close to the gray clouds that forever hovered over the dungeons of torment.
He prepared a block of cells just for Sorath, and enchanted the doors so that no power in the Universe can open them from inside. Once inside, only a guard could open the door armed with a special dagger, a dagger of bronze engraved with magical symbols that acted as the key. The doors then would seal to become part of the rock again, creating a hollow space inside dense, impenetrable rock.
Once the prison area was ready, it was time for the Furies to go forth and attack Sorath, capture him and confine him for eternity.
Hades held court with the three sisters. In return for defeating Sorath, he would grant them permanent stay on the surface, no longer tasked as just guardians of the gates to the Underworld. They would be able to see sunshine, mix with mortals and to carry out their chief edict: Avenging the soul of mortals who petition the Furies.
The battle field was the deserted areas between the River Styx and Lethe. A barren wasteland no demon or hero wished to cross.
On one side of the barren valley is found rough and cragged mountains of such an extreme height, no winged creature could fly above the peaks. The other side bordered Tartarus and Phlegathon, which was inhabited by the foulest of demonic entities, the hrökkáll. A worm like creature, roughly two feet long, and resembling an eel in appearance. They possessed flexible, iron-hard scales, and sharp saw-toothed fins. The Hrökkáll would lie in wait until someone stepped near. Then they would coil around the person's leg and constrict it, slicing into flesh and bone alike, amputating the limb. Demons and heroes alike avoided them.
Under a dark sky overcast with deep blue clouds, the great armies gathered.
On an outcrop near Elysian stood the Furies.
Tisiphone appeared, riding in a glossy black chariot, pulled by her demonic black stallion. Tisiphone wore a black bronze breastplate, maroon battle skirt with armor over both of her thighs. The stallion was clad in thick black armor, increasing his bulk. Tisiphone's weapon of choice was a 2-meter long spear, its leaf shaped tip so sharp, it cut space/time. She had readied a dozen of these supernatural weapons.
On Tisiphone's left, Alecto sat astride a magnificent rust red mare, its rust red mane flowing in the wind and whose eyes glowed with an unearthly orange light. Alecto wore a maroon bronze breastplate and maroon battle skirt. She wielded a battle axe and xiphos, a double-edged, one-handed short sword crafted from bronze. Like Tisiphone's doru, it was honed to a supernatural sharpness.
On the right, in a bright bronze breastplate and white battle skirt, Megaera sat bareback on her demonic steed: An enormous white mare clad in white armor, with a flowing golden mane and flashing green eyes.
Megaera wielded a large bow and her scabbard was filled with lethal arrows. These burst into flame as they were released. The wind caught Megaera's bright blonde hair as she surveyed the demon army gathering in the distance.
Tisiphone turned to inspect her heroic army. Every Greek and Roman hero that had ever existed, men and women, standing shoulder to shoulder. Amazons. Spartans. Roman Centurions. All armed to the teeth with a vast array of weapons.
Across the valley, Sorath stood a full meter taller than the tallest demon. Around him, demons of all shapes and sizes gathered, all of one mind – attack and kill the Furies and their army, worship Sorath and control all the Underworld. His ruddy red eyes observed the Furies. Women! Surely, no woman could ever defeat him!
No words were said. No great "call to arms" speeches were made. The time for talk was over and Hades was relying upon the Furies to defeat the demons for the final and last time. The time for rebellion was over. Life on the surface was moving away from the heroic myths of a more civilized time and into a period later called "The Dark Ages", filled with famine, war, and disease.
Tisiphone lifted her doru over her head, looked at each of her sisters, then one last time behind her. The heroic army, as one, raised their weapons in silent agreement.
She gazed across at Sorath. She grinned.
"Let's go get them, sisters!" She just flicked the reins and her chariot flew down the rise and into the valley. As the chariot leveled out on the battle field, Tisiphone kicked at a lever by her feet, which set two lethal blades into place by the chariot's spinning wheels.
Megaera and Alecto urged their battle horses to follow. The Heroes yelled and charged, following the sisters into battle.
Across the valley, Sorath watched the army charge. After a moment, he raised his massive arms. He roared with the horrid sound of a thousand tortured souls. Demonic shrieks and howls filled the air. En masse, they charged towards the center of the valley. Thousands of demons, thousands of demonic human warriors, green and gray arms holding bladed weapons, dripping with the nastiest slime one could imagine.
The two great armies collided in the center of the valley in an enormous cacophonous noise. A brilliant blast of etheric lightening erupted from the collision. The sound echoed throughout space/time for decades.
Megaera notched and let fly arrow after arrow, each bursting into flame as it streaked to its target. Streaks of fire expanded outward from Megaera's bow. Demons dropped. She rode forward and snatched used arrows from bodies as she circled, looking for more targets.
Tisiphone flung her spears with uncanny accuracy. Demon after demon went down under the blades of her chariot. She rode in circles, mowing down green and gray bodies.
Alecto swung right and left, demon heads flying as she finished each arc. Piles of heads built up around her as she swung her sword. She urged her horse over bodies that still clutched weapons, the mare kicking her way through dismembered creatures as more demons pushed forward.
Heroes waded into the melee, swinging weapons, fending off attacks and generally have a grand old time in battle. Achilles swung his short sword and deftly beheaded demon after demon. Agamemnon, not to be outdone, swung his battle axe, slicing demons with ease.
Yet, the demonic army still charged. Sorath had unlimited reserves to draw upon.
Tisiphone yelled, "Megaera!" and pulled her chariot along side her sister.
"Take Odysseus and go for Sorath's unprotected flank to the south. We'll stay here and draw them off," Tisiphone waved towards an older warrior. His head rose up when he heard his name.
"Lead on," he grinned, as he turned to his army. They began fighting their way behind Megaera, who worked her way to the area near the hrökkáll, fighting their way along until the demons began falling back as they advanced. Megaera watched as her sisters fought on, a mass of demon
s queued to engage the heroes.
The battle lasted for generations, eons, and eons. Megaera pressed onward gradually getting closer and closer. Finally, she was within striking distance.
Megaera whistled and waved towards Sorath when Odysseus looked up. He grinned and nodded. Sorath was busy engaging with Achilles. Megaera notched an arrow and sent it flying into Sorath's back. He roared with indignation as the arrow ignited his buttocks. Achilles jumped back, shouting, and pointing. Sorath spun, trying to extinguish the flames, until he sat on a pile of headless bodies, letting the green blood temper the fire.
Sorath fell backwards, atop a pile of dead and dying demons. He tried to move and just slid down to the blood-soaked rocky soil.
The Furies surrounded him, weapons drawn, aimed at his neck.
"Hades doesn't want us to kill you." Tisiphone explained. She shrugged. "But you are so fucking banished."
Sorath vanished in a shower of blue orbs. Observers later recalled that there was a brief flash of him falling from a great height into the prison block.
The black door slammed shut with a muffled thud, the demon left alone to tend to his wounds.
***
"Right!" Dan stood, and looked at Gaia. "Just hang on there...I need to clear my head."
He went into the kitchen. He rummaged around through the vintage refrigerator and came out with a bottle of soda. He poured a small amount into the sink and opened a bottle of bourbon, pouring a shot into the bottle. He swirled it and downed a few swallows.
Gaia was behind him when he turned.
"A hell of a story, lady," Dan said after a swallow. "So, who are you in all this then? What's your specialty?"
"Me? I keep the balance. Well, after birthing the world."
Dan choked back a laugh. "Riiight!"
"What if I tell you something that no one else knows about your niece's murder?"
"This had better be good." Dan took another swallow.
"Those marks? All done before she died. The pain and horror she felt at the moment of death will stay with her even in death."
Dan stood very still. He barely breathed. "I just got the coroner's report and that information was never, ever disseminated to anyone except me."
Gaia led them back into the living room. She took a seat on the couch and Dude moved back onto her lap.
"This demon needs those girls to die in as gruesome of a way as possible. He feeds upon the energy of pain and fear. As the victims scream and writhe in pain and fear, he absorbs that energy and grows stronger. He was greatly weakened in his defeat. Once he managed to escape, he had to possess a mortal and go on a killing spree to regain his strength. He found such a man in your niece's killer," Gaia told Dan. “Those sigils were directed to me, or, rather, my daughters. A warning. He needs to be dealt with, but in our fashion.”
"How convenient." Dan wasn't buying any of Gaia's story.
"He needs a lot of victims to regain his strength. He is the one who caused the thousands of sacrifices in what you call the 'Aztec Empire'. That was him," Gaia pointed out. "Once he gets strong enough, or the human he's possessing dies, he'll be freed."
Dan sat down on the recliner and looked at Gaia. "Then what happens?"
"Not to get all technical, but the shit will hit the fan," Gaia smiled and stood up. She continued, "His goal, his goal since the beginning, is to bring about the Apocalypse."
"Sounds like something those crazy street people preach." Dan shook his head. "I don't buy it for a minute. Gods? Demons? Next you'll tell me that those 900-line psychics are real."
"Some of them are, Dan." Gaia stood and walked to the fireplace mantle. She looked closely at the framed photo.
"Your mother." Gaia touched the photo and turned to Dan. "She says to tell you it wasn't your fault. You remember she told you to hide. But, she didn't suffer. The bullet killed her immediately."
"She told you that? Just who the hell do you think you are?"
"You already know. I am the Mother Goddess."
Dan grinned and looked down. "Right, that's a huge load of bull..."
Dan stopped talking as he looked up, just in time to see Gaia fading from view. He looked at Dude, then got up and walked around the living room.
"You did see her, didn't you, Dude?"
Dude just began grooming himself, but in a definite "I told you so" manner.
PART TWO
CHAPTER NINE
San Marin
Across town, nestled between a large church and an assisted living residence was the small funeral home of Mores & Sons. The "& sons" part had long since grown obsolete. It was just one man now, known to the town as Junior, but to the rest of the world, he is called Thanatos.
Thanatos was tall, almost seven feet tall, very thin man, almost skeletal. He preferred to wear dark suits and bow ties. Thanatos moved with a purpose that belied his apparent age. This man was, literally, timeless.
For a period, Thanatos was feared, often tasked by the other gods to take lives, and escort the souls into the Underworld, he now spent his time helping recently disincarnated souls transition from life on earth to what comes next, all based upon that person's philosophy. His appearance usually came as quite the surprise to many people.
In the cellar of the large, rambling house was the preparation room. Two tables were in the center, scattered around were various pumps, tubes, and bottles of the mortuary trade.
Thanatos was lining up some dark bottles, humming quietly to himself. On one table was the translucent body bag with the earthly remains of Brianna. He hadn't opened the bag yet, but he knew what he'd find.
A slight movement in the air distracted him for a moment. It wasn't unusual for the soul to visit during his work. This one was very damaged and weak. Almost unable to fully materialize. He stopped work and focused his attention on where the faint spirit hovered.
He fumbled in his vest pocket and produced a small cigar. He leaned against the counter, struck a match, then lit the cigar. He inhaled deeply; there wasn't anything like the spicy smell of a good Cuban tobacco. He focused on the spirit in the corner.
"You can come on out now, dear. It's alright. I know you exist." He puffed, then inhaled deep. The faint outline of Brianna crept closer. Thanatos narrowed his eyes. He inhaled again, deeper, then exhaled a stream of smoke at Brianna, filling her etheric outline with smoke, allowing Thanatos to see her clearly. She coughed softly.
He stopped and stared. "Oh my."
He placed a finger under her chin and turned her head, one way then another. Across her forehead, and on both cheeks, were a series of circles, inside which were Hebrew characters and then a set of geometric lines and shapes. They started to glow with a pale red light.
"What a mess."
"It hurts. Why does it hurt?" Brianna whispered, softly.
"Those symbols are burned into your soul, dear."
"What are they?" Brianna whispered.
"Now, now, dear. I have no idea, they look familiar, but I haven't seen anything like this in all my days, which are immeasurable." He leaned back against the counter and thought for a moment.
"Who are you? No one else can see me," Brianna cried. "I've tried. Mother can't see me! Dad can't, no one can. How can you see me?"
"I am a friend. I am an immortal." Thanatos bowed his head to her. "I am Thanatos. Also known as 'The Specter of Death'."
Brianna gasped and took a step back. Thanatos held up a hand. "Don't worry, you're already dead."
"What am I going to do?"
"It's complicated. Considering how brutally you were..." he waved his hand at the body on the table. "You will have to hang around until it's resolved. It's your unfortunate fate, dear."
"What can I do now? I'm dead," Brianna looked dejected. "I had no idea that being dead was so... difficult." She kept trying not to look at her old body on the table.
"That's up to you. But I can get you to some folks who can help. They're experts in helping people who have been murdered."
"Expecting who?"
"You know, god or someone," Brianna explained.
"Well, I am a god, in a fashion."
"Yes, I think I understand all that now."
"You're coming along nicely." Thanatos smiled. He straightened up to his full seven-foot height and buttoned his coat.
"Let me get my hat. It's just a short journey," Thanatos said as he reached out, took Brianna by the hand, and winked out of sight.
***
Inside Megaera's bedroom, Alecto relaxed on the bed, watching Megaera as she rummaged in an armoire. Megaera was in a huge tan bathrobe and pink fuzzy slippers, with rabbit's ears on the top, on her feet.
Articles of clothing were flying as she dug around and rummaged.
"You are blowing this well out of proportion. So, what if he did see you? How's that going to hurt you?" Alecto studied one of her varnished fingernails.
"These things just don't happen. I need to find out how he saw me." Megaera stopped and sat back on her thighs. She examined a flimsy piece of white cloth. She made a face and tossed it over her shoulder to land atop a pile of similar clothing.
"Just show up, dangle him from a roof and he'll talk. They always do," Alecto pointed out. "I wonder, what if he's related to an immortal? The immortals got around a lot back in the day, some even manage it in this current time. They get away with it by erasing the event from the memory of the poor woman."
"He's not related to one of us. I'd know," Megaera stated as she held up a very short white dress.
"Now that one would just distract him. Is that your plan?"
"Hey, this one worked with Theseus." She inspected it again, then tossed it on top of the growing pile of rejected clothing.
"Meg, just go deal with this guy, okay? You're making me annoyed with this obsession." Alecto now focused on another fingernail. This one also needed work.
Megaera just sighed, and went back into the armoire and started rooting around.
***
Angels of Vengeance: The Furies, Book 1 Page 8