Cult of the Hexad (Afterlife saga Book 6) (42 page)

Chapter 40

The Pathway

“Then let’s go take back our time.”

After Draven said this he took my hand and we walked past everyone else knowing they would follow. I looked behind to see that Seth was still with RJ who had passed out and rightly so, I had been close to doing so myself a few times already.

Draven’s phone rang and he answered it in one swift motion.

“She’s alive, the shields are down.”

“Good, now get your fucking ass over here and bring your famous wrath with you because we fucking need it!” I heard Lucius growl from the other side and then the sounds of fighting raged on in the back ground.

“Lucius...? LUC!” He shouted his name but it was useless as his side had cut out.

“Sorry sweetheart, it’s time we went for a ride.” Draven said grabbing me around the waist and I screamed as he launched us both into the sky.

“Holy shit!” I said at the feeling of being shot through the air by Draven’s race against time. Lucius needed us and without question the others followed in a shadowed blur. I pushed my hair back from my face so I could see as we flew towards, well I didn’t yet know what. However, Draven saw it long before I did.

“Gods…can it be possible?” He uttered and I stared out into the distance to try and see what he saw. It was only when it started to come into view that at first it didn’t look real…because things like this didn’t happen on Earth. Hell’s monsters didn’t just pop up like this. Because that is exactly what this was,

All Hell had broken loose.

Draven looked where Lucius was and landed us down so quickly I was ashamed to say I almost lost whatever was left in my stomach.

“Is that what I think it is?” Draven asked Lucius who was equipped with a massive sword that he held in his gloved hand. I looked around the open space that was usually filled with long tables for gatherings and communal meals. But now the sight was unbelievable and I couldn’t help but gasp in horror.

“They are preventing us from getting into the church where some ritual has begun.” Lucius said just as Draven picked me up, spinning me round to protect me as Lucius thrust his sword into some strange dwarf like creature. It looked like it had dipped its hand in black oil and then dragged it down his face as its war paint.

“How long?” Draven asked once Lucius’ bloody deed was done.

“Five minutes, but this is merely the first wave. They keep us out by creating pathways to the nine worlds. We stop them, we stop this…” By this he meant the chaos that was going on around us. An actual battle between us and them and by them I meant an army of dark dwarves that were angry, twisted creatures that attacked like a swarm.

“What about everyone? What about the humans?” I shouted praying that they were all still alive and hadn’t been collateral damage in this supernatural war between worlds.

“Takeshi took care of them, putting them in a passive state of mind and led them to the largest barn.” He nodded to the one I suspected and I sighed in relief but looking at this lot I knew it might be premature if I didn’t get them out of here for good.

Suddenly I saw a pile of the creatures being tossed up and out of the way like a battering ram was hurtling through the crowded enemy. It was only when it neared the end that I gripped onto Draven as it was headed straight for us. Thankfully I recognised Ragnar’s demon from that day in the marble room, when Draven and Lucius fought. He was charging his way through and knocking them clear of him with his huge, powerful form.  

“My Lord, they have to be stopped before…” Ragnar said after his horned helmet twisted away so he could speak freely. His demon appearance was no longer shocking and seeing it actually brought me comfort, knowing such a strong beast was on our side.

“Tell me.” Draven demanded as Lucius started to take out a group that were getting too close to us.

“The rogues have the type of Runes that when combined in certain ways it opens up a pathway to one of the Nine realms from Yggdrasil. The first was Swartalfheim, this is the army of dark Elves my Lord.” Ragnar said looking worriedly back at the church entrance where I spotted four of the six Fathers all holding painted stone in their hands, chanting something.

“How are they doing this?” I asked, myself finding what they were capable of doing impossible.

“It’s the blood rituals.” Vincent said coming up to stand beside us. Draven and I both looked at him and he continued to explain,

“It makes sense after what Sigurd said. The wall wouldn’t lose its power after the full moon went by without a blood ritual. Which means the rituals were about gathering power for this and for whatever they are doing in that church…it must be, for all they needed was the ninth.”

“So what you’re saying is that they had enough power gathered to bring forth the pathways to eight of the worlds, if they chose?” Draven asked and Vincent nodded.

“Yes but we might have gained some time when saving RJ because why would they be guarding the church, using all of the power to do so. Whatever it is, we have to get inside and stop them.” I looked to see the Fathers just as they combined the stones they held in a certain shape, creating what looked like another pathway.

“Easier said than done from the looks of what’s coming!” Lucius said fighting his way back to us and nodding to each of the runes that were lighting up on the stones one by one. They each shot out a beam of light, connecting the stones and creating a type of web until the cycle was complete. Next we saw something emerging from the centre as the circle of light grew bigger and bigger as if needing this to accommodate the immense size.

“It is Jörmungandr, the great beast!” Ragnar roared and only Sigurd, who was also fighting the dark elves, as now I knew what they were, looked shocked. The creature he shouted about he had pronounced as ‘YOUR –Mun-gandr’ with the ‘Your’ part said louder with more depth from his heavy Germanic sounding accent.

“Is…is…that…a giant snake!” I shouted this last part when a huge serpent slithered from within the portal with the head of a gigantic monitor lizard. It snarled and shook out spikes from beneath its scales and size wise I could only compare it to a line of pickup trucks all together, nose to bumper.

“Niðr,
gǫ
rr ykkarr ofreflismaðr!” Ragnar roared to his son. (‘Son, ready your superior power’) Sigurd growled at the sight of the beast and had started to summon his own powers. He threw off his jacket to bare his own shadowed creatures and the dark tattooed skin started to spin and merge, taking over his body. Only this time instead of the usual two serpents that came from behind him something started to change. He seemed to draw up from beneath him, as if tapping in to some hidden power source and draining it for what he needed. It came up from the earth beneath him in streams of black smoke, adding to the power that was already there.

Then on another demonic cry he released it all at once, twisting and combining it all and shot it forward straight for the beast. The further it got the more it combined into one massive shadowed beast of his own. So when it finally reached the huge serpent it went at it with its newly formed head snapping deadly jaws.

The monster Jörmungandr twisted its head and bit into Sigurd’s shadowed creature, biting through its head after only a second into the fight. I gasped thinking it was useless, only to see it reform behind its enemy and snap back at its neck, getting its revenge. Unlike Sigurd’s clever beast the serpent Jörmungandr hissed in pain as black blood spurted into the sky like a mist.

“He’s winning!” I shouted back to Draven who wasn’t looking at the fight but straight at the Fathers to see they were opening yet another portal.

“Where is Jared and his council?” Draven asked Lucius.

“They should be coming from that side any minute, why?” He responded fighting back the last of the defeated army of dark elves that looked like hybrids between what you would have expected of dwarves and elves together. Pointed ears, short bodies, coal black matt skin and white hair braided back into Mohawks.

“Because we are going to need him if what I suspect is next through that portal.” Draven said tensely and this was quickly followed by an almighty roar that would have put any lion to shame.

“He Who Dwells in the Marshes”
Ragnar uttered in awe just as an enormous wolf leapt from the newly formed pathway snarling at the world. He was terrifying and I grabbed on to Draven, as it came straight for us.

“FENRIR ATTACKS! GET BACK!” Ragnar shouted to all that were making sure the last of the dark elves were dead. Meanwhile Sigurd still battled the giant serpent, Jörmungandr who looked as if he would soon be defeated.

“Where the fuck is a Hellbeast when you need one!?” Lucius said sarcastically as he held his sword out like a modern day knight.

“Come on Cerberus, now would be a good time to…” Draven was suddenly cut short as demonic howls sounded that they were near. We looked towards the trees and saw at first it looked like an actual giant was running through the woods. The trees shook and some even uprooted through the force of Jared and his council all charging into battle. Then, bursting from the trees, wild beasts of different kinds came charging through, all being led by the biggest, which I knew was Jared. He had a Jurassic look about him with hardened clumps of stone fur, pointed and tipped with razor edges.

He raged through the rest of us straight fo
r
Fenrir, whose fury was building into a crescendo. The remains of thick massive chains hung in sections from the heavy collar he wore and large links had been stretched back by brute strength. It was obvious he had broken through these but it was confusingly the single silky thread that hung down from the front that looked to be made of woven silver that I stared at. It looked to have been sheared off from whatever it had been attached to. However, this was nothing in comparison to the great sword, one the length of a two storey building that had been thrust up through his jaw. The handle curled back round, sitting under his lower jaw and the blade part had broken through to his upper jaw, sticking up like a horn or a weapon. One he used right now to charge at Jared and his men.

“What are we going to do?!” I shouted up at Draven.

“They will only bring more in My Lord and Odin only knows what is next in store for us.” Ragnar told him and Draven snarled at the Fathers, at the sight of them doing just that.

“If you get the Runes, can you send them back?” Draven asked scanning the area for his people.

“Aye, me and the boy with some help from the seer.” He said nodding to the girl I now knew as Rue.

“Then we kill the Fathers and take control of their power…Rue, Takeshi!” Draven shouted over to them and Takeshi led Rue, which quickly told me she was blind. She had her hands out in front of her but the eyes I saw tattooed there told me two things, one she could see from them and two, they weren’t equipped enough to move quickly.

“Yes my Lord.” Takeshi said surprisingly calm, considering our dire situation.

“Rue, do you think you can use your power to confuse them, to prevent them from bringing anything else through?” Draven asked her.

“No, my powers are nothing up against the four of them but I might be able to slow them down, plant some fears against them. One is weaker than the others and already fears what comes through will attack them.” She informed us.

“Good, use that against him and focus all your energy there. We only need one to fail enough to get close to them.” She nodded and ran off towards the side of them.

“Takeshi, you go and protect her…and use what you have to aid in boosting her powers.”

“With my life I give.” He replied and was quickly at Rue’s side, making sure she got there safely.

“LOOK OUT!” Sophia shouted to us and the next thing I knew I was on the floor after being pushed out of the way. I looked up to see the massive body of the serpent had landed like a falling, thousand-year-old tree in between Draven and I. Sigurd had done it but from the sounds of things the job was long from finished. This beast was down but there was another coming from the next pathway.

“You need to get out of here!” Sigurd said walking over to me, half hidden in his surrounding shadows. It was like black smoke that tried to cling to him every time he moved. Draven saw that Sigurd had me and the relief was plain to see. Draven nodded for him to take me far from here and just as he took the top of my arm ready to take me to safety the sky split from the unearthly sound of our biggest monster yet.

“Fucking Thor’s hammer, what next!?” He growled looking back to the lit pathway.

“Fuck no!”

“What is it? Sigurd what is…oh my God! You have got to be shitting me! It’s a fucking Dragon!” It was my time to roar as the head started to emerge.

“It’s no Dragon, its worse…
its Níðhöggr!”
This is the point where I would have asked him ‘who’ but he turned to me and screamed one thing,

“RUN!”
I didn’t need to be told twice as that is exactly what I did. I started running and knowing what was at my back I did so like death was following me! I looked back over my shoulder expecting to see Sigurd running with me but he wasn’t there. He was stood in between it and me surrounded by a black cloud that was growing bigger and bigger.