Guardians of Rhea (13 page)

“Oh, no,” Gillan said, helping Kamala to her
feet.

Sara ran to help. “How bad?”

Blood ran from Kamala's side and mouth. With
Gillan supporting her, she managed a brisk walk. “Good kill,” she
gasped.

“Don't talk,” Gillan said. “Sara, find Leon.
We have to get out of here.”

Leon was just outside the gateway looking to
see if all was clear.

Hurok picked Doradus' lifeless body up and
carried him with Rona close by.

Sara ran up to Leon. “If we're going to
leave, now would be a good time.”

“Agreed,” Leon said, looking at the group as
they passed by hurriedly.

Suddenly with no warning, a glowing, green
seed-like projectile shot through Leon from the back and exited out
of Sara's. The looks on their faces’ were polar opposites, calm on
Leon, one of shock on Sara. Leon caught her just as she fell.

Not knowing what happened, Nedim was stunned.
“By the...”

“Take her, fast,” Leon said, passing Sara
over to Nedim, and then looking to Caycee.

“I know the way,” Caycee said.

As the group fled, Leon turned to the city.
Standing in the middle of the street ahead was a Myrmidon.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Ivee's red eyes complemented her sinister
smile. Her formfitting black outfit exposed her midsection and from
the shoulders up. She had black hair that was short and spiky, and
like any Pelasgian her skin was a light gray color. But it was her
forearms that caught Leon's attention. By most standards, they were
abnormally large. The left had two rows of three openings, faintly
glowing green, facing ahead of the hand. The right had just one
large opening.

With his sword in one hand and its sheath in
the other, Leon's eyes turned jet black.

Giggling, Ivee pointed her left forearm at
Leon, and from the small openings, glowing green projectiles shot
out at a terrifying rate.

Leon ran headlong into the hailstorm of
Ivee's deadly seeds. Not bothering to evade, many of the seeds tore
straight through him. His blood, black under the light of the
Shadow Realm, splattered off his body. Moving at an unbelievable
speed, he closed the distance between him and Ivee within
seconds.

If Marduk proved anything, it's that
Myrmidons were just as fast as Leon. Using his sword to block
Leon's inches from Ivee's face, he smirked. “It's been a long
time.”

Leon didn't have to look to know what the
Myrmidon looked like – similarly young, with short hair and a
leather bodysuit.

Other Myrmidons began to emerge from, over,
and around the buildings. Behind Ivee was Vela, a female with very
short hair, clothing like Marduk's, and a scar that ran from her
lower jaw on one side to across her eyebrow on the other.

Behind Marduk was Xran, a tall hulking male
with no hair and no shirt. His body was very angular and the entire
front was scarred as if it had been badly burned. He grabbed a
piece of wall and tore it from the building. In his hands it became
a much harder substance as it turned into a large hammer.

On the left was Cesni. Insect-like in
appearance, he had an exoskeleton for a body. At his elbows and
knees, razor sharp blades sprung towards the hands and feet.

“You know Vela and Xran,” Marduk said. “Ivee
and Cesni are new to the team, and they've been dying to meet
you.”

Just as Leon brought his sword to bear,
Marduk and Ivee darted away in the blink of an eye.

Dashing in midair, Cesni molted, copying his
elbow blades and shooting them forward.

Leon blocked the copied blades with his
sword, shattering them, though a few large fragments slashed his
arms halfway through. Immediately falling to the side, his useless
arms rapidly healed just in time for him to block one of Cesni's
deadly leg kicks.

Cesni threw a rapid flurry of punches and
kicks in succession. When Leon tried to counter, Xran was instantly
on him, swinging his hammer that would shatter every bone in a
normal person's body should it hit. Leon flipped over, dodging and
again tried to counter.

Marduk blocked Leon's sword. “My, you've
gotten sloppy. I remember when last we met you were quite the
fighter.”

Leon was about to strike when Vela leapt
through the air with him in her sights. Green energy crackled from
her hands before firing in a burst. His only option was to dart
away. The explosion when it hit the ground was tremendous, and so
close that smoke came off Leon’s body.

Outside, Caycee could see a brief glow from
the explosion in the city.

“We're almost there,” Nedim said to Sara, who
was beginning to slip in and out of consciousness.

Kamala choked a bit on some blood and
staggered. Gillan held her tight, desperately trying to reach the
portal as fast as possible.

Appearing to glide through the air, Cesni
threw a barrage of blades at Leon. The four blood glaives on Leon's
clothes seemingly came to life as they took off on their own, the
blades extending and spinning so fast they could cut through skin
and bone like a hot knife through butter.

Two of the glaives shattered some of Cesni's
copied blades before being broken by the real ones. The other two
glaives went after Marduk and Xran, who smashed the projectiles
with their weapons.

A vine whip shot out from Ivee's right
forearm, snaring one of Leon's legs. With a quick tug, she threw
him off balance. Xran swung his hammer and sent Leon flying through
the air.

Leon managed to land on his feet, but found
himself instantly being attacked by Cesni. He dodged the first
blade, but the second severed his right hand, his sword hand.
Grunting in pain, Leon did what he could with his sheath, blocking
many of Cesni's attacks.

Marduk snuck in from behind and kicked the
sheath out of Leon's hand before quickly sweeping him off his feet
and landing another hard kick to the midsection before Leon could
even hit the ground, sending him sprawling across the street.

Ivee jumped in like she was possessed. She
had Leon's sword and brought it down with the intention of ending
the fight once and for all.

Just before the moment Leon could be done in
by his own sword, Ivee was abruptly stopped in midair as the blade
met with another that instantly materialized into existence in a
burst of black 'ink', held by a tall, slender man in a cape and
black body armor made of leather. His long, straight black hair
partially covered his face.

The Myrmidons froze in terror. “Nibiru!”
Marduk said in shock.

With little effort, Nibiru flicked his sword,
causing Ivee to twist in midair.

“No!” Ivee pleaded, as she barely blocked
Nibiru's next strike that sent her screaming through the air and
landing with a thud.

“Leave,” Nibiru calmly said, with the
Myrmidons doing just that. He turned to Leon. “Marduk's right.
You've gotten sloppy.”

Exhausted, Leon struggled back to his feet,
cradling his wrist.

“How do you like the new team?”

Leon remained silent.

“You can't win this, Leon,” Nibiru said as he
walked away. “My offer still stands if you want to join me.”

After watching Nibiru vanish in a cloud of
blackness, Leon staggered his way back to the portal. Emerging on
the street of a city in the Netherworld, he found Sara and Kamala
lying on the ground with the others around them.

Holding Kamala, Gillan looked up. “She's
gone.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Sara barely clung to life. Leon knelt beside
her. “Sara, can you hear me?” he asked, with no response. “Open her
mouth,” he told Nedim.

Nedim pinched Sara's nose and squeezed her
cheeks as Leon held his bloody wrist over her mouth for several
drops of blood to fall in.

“Eww!” Janah cried.

Leon clasped Sara's mouth, forcing her to
drink the blood.

It took a second for Sara's eyes to shoot
wide open. She quickly stood up, looking around. “What happened?”
she asked, poking at where the now healed wound was.

“I had to give you some of my blood,” Leon
said before rolling over on his side.

“What?!”

“There was no other way,” Caycee said,
kneeling by Leon. She pulled a blood marble from her pocket. “Here,
take this. I can't believe you didn't bring any.”

After eating the blood marble, Leon instantly
regenerated a new hand. “Thanks,” he said standing up.

“Your blood healed me?” Sara asked.

“Yeah,” Leon answered. “You'll also have my
abilities for a short while.”

Sara's eyes briefly turned completely black
as she tested her Vesuvian powers. Looking down, she gasped with
the realization Kamala had passed. “Oh, no.” she said.

“I take it you weren't successful,” Lilith
said, walking towards the group with Arloff close behind her.

Gillan stood, angry with tears in his eyes.
“In case you can't tell – we just got our asses kicked!”

“Are you game to try again?” Lilith
asked.

“Not right now,” Leon answered. “We aren't
prepared, and with the losses we took I don't think some of the
group wants to go back.”

“What do you mean? Arloff is just fine, and
the friends you
lost
are heading this way right now,” Lilith
pointed. “See?”

Leon spotted Darek, Kamala and Doradus.
“Yeah, but they're dead.”

“So! They can still fight.”

“Not like before!”

Lilith sighed. “What now then?” she asked,
standing nearly nose-to-nose with Leon.

“We go back to Rhea. Sara has to go back. I
can't risk losing her.”

“Why? You love her?”

Leon suddenly flinched in disbelief. “She has
to report back to her leaders.”

Lilith looked suspiciously at Leon.
“Fine.”

“Well, this sucks,” Doradus mildly
complained.

Hurok held his friend's shoulder. “Be proud.
You fought bravely and died fighting, the way all Fenrir
should.”

“Could be worse,” Darek said. “Least now
we're immortal.”

Kamala crossed her arms. “Well I don't see it
that way,” she said, tears welling in her eyes upon seeing her
lifeless body. “I have a family back home. My husband is going to
be furious!”

“Kamala, I am so sorry,” said Sara.

Gillan took hold of Kamala's hand. “Don't
worry, they'll understand. We all knew this could happen.”

Kamala hugged Gillan tightly.

“Looks like everyone's here,” Leon said.

Darek waved. “Oy! Thanks for gettin’ my back,
Leon!”

Several of the people around laughed.

“Sorry, bud.”

Darek playfully hit Leon's arm. “You know I'm
kiddin’.”

Leon noticed Kamala was depressed. “I know
it's a stupid question, but are you going to be alright?” he
asked.

“I'll be fine,” Kamala said, fighting back
tears. Leon shook hands with her and nodded.

Stig suddenly came through the portal. “I did
it!”

“It will be safe in our city,” Arloff said to
Leon. “The fighting has stopped.”

“The Fenrir are still there,” Stig said. “But
they won't attack. That's the best I could do.”

“Even if they attack, they'll answer to me,”
Hurok said.

Sara asked. “Why not open a portal near
Vesuvia, or another city?”

“Because I don’t know what's on the other
side,” Lilith answered. “Usually that's not a problem, but since
you're not dead I wouldn't recommend it.”

“I see.”

“Leon,” Lilith called. “I can hold out for
some time, but don't keep me waiting.”

“Speaking of time, what time is it in Rhea?”
Caycee asked.

Stig shrugged. “The sun was just setting when
I left.”

Leon looked to Sara. “Ready?”

Everyone, alive, passed through the portal to
the Promethean capital. Several Fenrir and Prometheans were just
cleaning or hanging around.

“Janah and I will go back to Hegira.” Nedim
said. “My people will likely send emissaries to help organize some
counterattack. Farewell.”

“See you later,” Leon said. “Gillan, you
coming?”

“No,” Gillan answered. “My people need to
know what happened as well. I just hate having to go alone.”

“I'll go with you,” Caycee said. “I've never
seen Khothu before.”

Gillan was relieved. “Thanks.”

“I am going to gather the packs,” Hurok said.
“The Fenrir will help fight the Pelasgians.”

“Sounds good. If you can, send someone to
Vesuvia to let them know,” Leon said, then turning to Sara. “It'll
be easier if we go straight to New Haven from here.”

Sara held her hand out. “Lead the way.”

****

In the Shadow Realm, the Myrmidons gathered
in a half-ruined building with only a large chair in the middle.
Eris flew in from an opening in the roof.

Cesni looked angrily to Ivee. “You're in big
trouble.”

“Shut up!” Ivee said, pushing Cesni away.

“Stop!” Marduk ordered.

Vela turned to the doorway. “He's here.”

Nibiru stepped in, standing there for a
moment before instantly grabbing Ivee by the neck and lifting her
off the ground. “Let me remind you that being a Myrmidon means
following my command without question. Next time I will rip you
apart!” he said, tossing Ivee aside.

The Myrmidons cowered, lowering their heads
in disgrace, except for Eris.

“My lovely, Eris.” Nibiru said, gently
caressing her cheek with his hand. “It seems our Rhean friends may
be on to you. We must be more careful.”

Nibiru sat in the chair, resting his head on
one hand, contemplating what had happened.

Marduk rushed to the chair and knelt.
“Nibiru, I beg you, even you said Leon isn't the warrior he once
was-”

Nibiru interrupted. “You seem to forget that
you've only fought Leon as a team. I need Leon to join us, but like
all of you, he must join willingly. His power will make us
stronger.”