Guardians of Rhea (10 page)

“Out here? I can’t believe we haven't ran
into a whole pack of them yet,” Kamala said.

A howl could be heard not far off in the
distance, followed by what sounded like a small explosion.

Leon crouched by a large rock and waved for
the group to catch up. Everyone scampered over to him as quick as
possible.

“I was hoping to avoid these guys,” said
Janah.

“We might be able to,” Leon said. “It sounds
like someone is fighting. It's a little hard to see, but the city
is right in front of us. We just have to lay low and stick close
together.”

Leon led the way past several rocks and
trees. As they got closer to the city, its ruins began to show
through the fog. The sounds of grunting and growling could be
heard, along with the occasional cracking of stone and smashing of
glass.

The group ducked into the nearest
building.

“Everyone against the wall,” Leon instructed.
“Stay away from the windows.”

“It sounds like there are a lot of them,”
Nedim said.

“There's a way out back that should take us
to an alley,” Leon said. “We can use it to get most of the way
there.”

“Now wait just a minute,” Sara demanded. “How
far is it?”

“Don't worry,” Leon assured. “If we're where
I think we are, it should just be a few minutes away.”

The building suddenly shook.

“This way,” Leon said, heading towards the
back.

Running down the alley, Sara looked between
the buildings as she passed and caught glimpses of the battle.

The group came to a halt at an intersection
with a street. Huddling against the wall, they looked on as a
Promethean and three Fenrir were in a standoff.

The Fenrir were vicious little things that
looked like a cross between a wolf and a chimpanzee. Their attire
consisted of clothing that exposed their arms and lower legs; along
with earrings, bracelets and necklaces. “Go back where you belong!”
one of them growled.

The Promethean roared. “This is our
city!”

At once, the three Fenrir charged in. With
their razor-sharp claws and teeth, they latched onto the
Promethean.

Sara almost felt sorry.

But, being undead, the Promethean felt
nothing. He pulled the Fenrir stuck to his face off and tossed him
like a cannonball through a wall. Then, with each hand he pulled
the other two off and slammed them together before throwing one to
the ground and kicking him down the street. With a punch to the
chest, the last one went sailing over a building past Sara and the
group.

The Fenrir thrown into a building, as well as
the one kicked down the street, came running back at the
Promethean, relentless in their attack.

At the back of the group, Gillan looked again
at the flight path of the third Fenrir. His eyes found themselves
very close to the opposite end of the alley. To his horror, the
Fenrir came skidding into the alley like a nightmare. Gasping in
terror, Gillan yelled. “Run!”

Without question, or even looking, the whole
group blew past Leon in an effort to reach the next alley.

Leon almost stumbled forward as the group
rushed by. Glancing back to see the threat, he too made a run for
it.

Though the Fenrir had certainly seen the
group, he continued to attack the Promethean.

Leon instantly ran to the front of the group
to stop them from going any further. Throwing his arms out, he
asked. “Do you even know where you're going?” To which there was no
reply. “Keep your wits. We're almost there.”

As soon as Leon turned to move on, a Fenrir
leaped at him from the shadows. With unfathomable reflexes, he
grabbed the Fenrir in midair by the neck and arm.

With his free hand, the Fenrir managed to
swipe at Leon a few times across the shoulder and arm.

Before anyone else could react, another
female Promethean came crashing into the alley from a wall behind
them, a Fenrir attacking one of her legs. While pulling at the
Fenrir, she smashed into the surrounding buildings.

At the far end of the alley, two more Fenrir
charged in, their sights set on the group.

“What now!” Janah cried.

Not knowing where to go and afraid to get in
Leon's way, everyone braced themselves.

One of the Fenrir jumped at Sara and came
within inches of her face when an arrow struck it in the eye,
killing it instantly.

Sara turned to see it was Caycee who'd fired
the shot.

Darek ran into the alley, morphing into a
human-bat hybrid with more hair, pointy ears, sharp claws and
bigger fangs. When he met the last Fenrir head-on, both clawed and
gnawed at each other like the animals they were.

Leon repeatedly slammed the Fenrir against a
wall with no affect. With claws sunk fairly deep in his arm, Leon
dare not let go. It took Sara to ram a talon into the Fenrir's head
to free him.

As Darek wrestled with the Fenrir, Caycee
took aim and fired with perfect timing.

Struck in the back by a silver arrow, the
Fenrir whimpered and buckled, allowing Darek to toss him aside.

“Glad to see you,” Leon said.

Unable to talk in his current form, Darek
responded with the universal hand sign for 'okay'.

The group continued their run for the portal,
passing half-a-dozen fights between the Fenrir and Prometheans.
Turning into a street, they were fortunate in that it was
empty.

Hunkering among the ruins, all eyes were on
Leon. As he peeked around a corner, Sara asked. “How are we?”

“Give it a second,” Leon answered, pointing
to the center of a dilapidated plaza some distance off.

Orange in color and seething with energy, the
arch-shaped portal exploded into existence with a single Promethean
emerging from it and running off to battle. The portal then
vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Leon turned to the group. “As soon as we get
close, it should open up.”

“You sure?” Nedim asked. “No levers, no
chants?”

“I've gone through it once or twice
myself.”

“Then let's not waste anymore time,” Sara
said. “Those Fenrir are almost as bad as the Prometheans.”

Leon stepped out first. “Looks clear,” he
said.

The sound of battle was still thick in the
air.

Halfway to the portal, everyone came to a
halt when it suddenly came to life with another Promethean emerging
from it.

Spotting the hapless group almost instantly,
the undead monstrosity charged at them like an unstoppable
force.

Coming to within feet of being trampled,
Gillan used the fog to create a powerful jet of water that sent the
Promethean flying across the plaza and into some rubble.

“Keep moving!” Leon urged. The portal opened
when he got close, but he stopped just shy of entering to see
everyone through.

First Darek, then Caycee, Nedim, Janah.

As he fled, Gillan couldn't believe it when
the Promethean grabbed a large chunk of debris and hurled it at him
with expert precision.

Seeing her friend about to be crushed, Kamala
stopped the debris in midair and cast it back to collide with the
Promethean.

Sara waited with Leon as Kamala and Gillan
ran through the portal. Just when she was about to enter, she
spotted three Fenrir run into the plaza. “Look.” She pointed.

“Just go.” Leon said. “We'll be safe on the
other side.”

Sara stepped through, with Leon close behind
keeping an eye on the Fenrir.

In the blink of an eye the world seemed to
transform.

The Netherworld was a place filled with
clouds in a fire-orange sky and a calm, constant wind.

The group found themselves completely
surrounded by various undead Rheans in an open area of a city.

Sara looked at Leon worriedly. “You were
saying?”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“Everyone just relax.” Leon said, moving
closer to the dead crowd.

A Fenrir, in his alternate human-like dwarf
form, approached Leon. “Hey there. Welcome to the city of Mictlán.
Name’s Stig. It’s amazing you made it through the portal, with that
battle going on the other side.”

Leon was about to speak before being
interrupted by the portal opening and three Fenrir coming
through.

“Don't move!” Leon yelled at the group.
“Sara, stand still!”

“Are you crazy?!” Sara asked, barely
resisting the urge to grab a weapon, as was the rest of the
group.

“Do not move!” Leon insisted.

One of the Fenrir howled before making a
sudden leap at Gillan with his claws and mouth wide open. However,
at the last second the Fenrir was stopped in midair by an unseen
force.

Gillan, wide-eyed and trembling, fainted.
Kamala and several others immediately ran to his side.

The remaining Fenrir attempted to attack the
group, and like the first, they were also stopped by the same
unseen force and held in place. “What is the meaning of this!” a
Fenrir asked.

Leon answered. “Rule number one, no
fighting.”

The Fenrir gave up and changed into their
altered form. With that, the force that was holding them let
go.

Stig was shocked seeing his fellow Fenrir.
“Hurok?”

“Cousin!” Hurok said.

The two embraced for a moment.

Stig waved at the other two Fenrir. “Rona,
Doradus. It is good to see you.”

Doradus approached Leon, asking. “Who do you
think you are helping the Prometheans?”

“We're not helping them,” Leon said.

A Promethean stepped forward. “You Fenrir
need to get off our land. You have no right.”

“We have every right!” Hurok said. “You're
dead, Promethean! That land belongs to the living!”

Sara stood by Leon and asked. “What's going
on?”

“The longest running feud in Rhea,” Leon
answered.

Nedim splashed some water from his canteen on
Gillan to rouse him.

Gillan sat up and looked around. “Aww, man. I
thought I was dreaming.”

Rona, the female Fenrir, approached Leon. “If
you're not helping the Prometheans, then what brings you here?”

“Pelasgians,” Leon answered. “I'm sure you've
heard of their little invasion here.”

Laughing lightly, Hurok said. “Who hasn't?
But what do you think you're going to do?”

“We're on a mission to gather our forces,”
said Leon. “If you'd like, you may join us. We're going to need all
the help we can get.”

Hurok looked at Leon curiously before
answering. “What exactly are you up to?”

“I'm sure Stig can tell you.”

“He's right.” Stig said. “The Pelasgians have
invaded us. We're fighting, but it hasn't been going too well,
cousin. Hurok, please help these people.”

Hesitating, Hurok held Stig by the shoulders.
“The only thing better than killing a Promethean is killing a
Pelasgian.”

Walking down a dirt road, the group noticed
very few residents hanging around.

Caycee couldn't help to point it out. “I know
this city's dead, but damn.”

“Yes,” Nedim said. “The adults must be
occupied with the invasion.”

Several of the children followed or ran
around the group, teasing playfully as they passed by.

“I'll tell you one thing for sure.” Janah
said. “I never thought I'd be walking down a street here. Not alive
at least.”

“I thought we were done for sure back there,”
said Sara. As she rounded a corner, she bumped into someone so hard
she fell flat on her rump. Looking up to see who it was, she was
shocked to see it was Arloff, followed by Elsa and Lugos.

Aside from Leon, the rest of the group stood
in shock.

Arloff turned to his companions. “Bring the
others back from Rhea. We must fight the Pelasgians here.”

Elsa and Lugos then ran off.

“Follow me,” Arloff said. “Lilith is waiting
for you.”

Leon helped Sara up.

As they followed Arloff, Sara spoke to Leon.
“I thought we killed these guys.”

“Don't you remember?” Leon asked. “When
Rheans die, they become immortal. All we did was send them back
here.”

Arloff led the group to what looked like the
entrance of an underground shelter. After going down a flight of
stairs they entered a large throne room lit by torches. It was
decorated with drapes made of silk, and a floor made of shiny
marble.

At the center, sitting on her throne, was
Lilith. Humanoid, with small accentuations around her eyes, ears
and nose that gave her an otherworldly streamlined beauty. Clothed
in a red toga, a modest amount of her smooth, light-orange skin
revealed a slender body. Her curly, shoulder-length hair was as red
as her dress, but the most striking feature of all was her sapphire
eyes.

“Hello, Lilith,” Leon said as he
approached.

After taking a moment to look at the group,
Lilith spoke. “My beloved, Leon. Have you come with a solution to
my...problem?”

“To be honest,” Leon answered. “I'm not sure
there's much we can do right now. Sara here is of a race that may
be able to help. The humans are vast in number-”

“Yes, they are.” Lilith laughed before
standing and walking towards Sara. “I know very well of your race.
So dearly cherished...but you are nothing compared to the
Pelasgians, or even to us for that matter.”

Looking Lilith in the eye, Sara said, “I
thought you were the one with the problem. For someone so powerful,
it sure sounds like you're in a lot of trouble.”

Lilith leered at Leon. “This was all your
idea, wasn't it?” she asked. “You, of all people, should know what
we're up against. The humans are but a small part of your world –
something the Pelasgians apparently eat for breakfast.”

“I know what we're up against,” said Leon.
“That's why we have to take our time and look at all options.”

Lilith clinched her fists in frustration. “I
really hope you're just low on blood, Leon. Time is a luxury
I
don't have. Surely the Savior of Rhea can come up with
something better than this.”