The Phoinix: Age of Demigods (51 page)

“You destroyed mankind,
Grandmother. You ensured its destruction by killing its only
protector all those centuries ago.” Elpis tried to remain calm but
her anger grew too wild. She squeezed her fist and the chains
tightened around Anath’s body. “Besides, look at this beautiful
creature born into the House of Mars
:
my puppet and key to ridding the
universe of the
almighty
gods.”

Bre smiled at Elpis’ sarcasm. The same
hatred and anger towards the world’s pantheons toiled in her
mind.

Elpis grabbed Bre’s hand
and thrust the dagger’s handle into her palm. The evil emanating
from the small blade vibrated through her bones, edging her
subconscious towards death and destruction. Bre closed her eyes and
slowly inhaled
, succumbing to the
addictive nature of evil. She then pricked her
finger
on
the tip
of the blade
,
and
the knife absorbed her blood
and
the power
that thrived
within it
.

Anath
pleaded
with Elpis once more to drag
her away from her malevolent goal, but there were no words
left
.
Elpis
showed no remorse or pity for what was about to happen. She waved
her hand dismissively and said, “Kill her.”

Bre walked towards
Anath,
and
the
goddess begged for her life, “Please
.
You were prophesized to be the
savior of the gods. You can fight her. You have a pure heart. Do
not let her consume you. Think of the great civilization that will
be lost if you kill…”

“Silence,” Bre said softly and the
green chains wrapped around Anath’s mouth.

Bre gripped Anath’s hair
and yanked her head back to look her in her eyes. When she hovered
the dagger over Anath’s chest, the chains
separated
,
revealing bare skin over her heart.

Elpis’
and
Bre’s
hearts sped up as their powers sensed Anath’s heart rate
increase. Anath’s eyes widened in fear as Bre drew her arm back.
Elpis triumphantly smiled as her grandmother’s muffled cries filled
the cave
.
Bre
thrust the blade into Anath’s heart
,
and
the hilt of the dagger pressed against
her breast.

Bre slowly pulled the
dagger
out,
but
before the tip left Anath’s chest, the handle grew too
hot
, forcing
Bre
to
let
go. A fire burst out of the goddess’ chest and quickly consumed her
body. The fire grew
,
and before anyone
could take
cover, Anath exploded like a jar of Greek Fire,
sending Elpis and Bre crashing into the cave walls. The dagger flew
out of her chest and wedged itself between the wall and stone
debris.

* * *

Outside the cave, the
battle stopped as a blast of fire filled the blue sky. The men and
animals stopped to stare at the fire burning in the heavens. One
man ignored the spectacular scene and continued his fight
against
an Eversor
clone.

Romulus lunged at the clone, catching
him off guard while Eversor stared at the sky victoriously. When
Romulus’ sword lodged into Eversor’s body, Romulus expected him to
disappear into black smoke. However, Eversor pulled the sword out
of his stomach and tossed it aside.

“It’s not that easy to
kill me, Romulus. It seems we are at a standoff here. You cannot
kill me and unfortunately, the only person who can kill you is
already dead. Tell me, do you feel any remorse for murdering your
twin
,
or did you
enjoy the sensation of death?” Eversor taunted
Romulus
, unaware of
Brian behind him mumbling a power-binding spell.

Before Brian finished,
Clover tackled Brian to the ground. Romulus pulled out his dagger
and willed his sword to return. Eversor threw a grey energy
ball
at Romulus but he
dodged it. The ball crashed into a Roman soldier behind
Romulus.

Romulus lurched forward to
aid his fallen soldier but the man was
dead
before he hit the ground.
Cursing and angry grunts regained Romulus’ attention. Brian and
clover wrestled on the ground, Clover winning the
quarrel.

“Go!” Cailean shouted and took
Romulus’ place. Romulus ran to help Brian and left Cailean with the
real Eversor.

Clover’s teeth inched closer to
Brian’s throat with every snarl. IT took all of Brian’s strength to
keep the angry wolf from tearing him apart. He held one forearm in
the wolf’s throat and the other one just below her ribs.

Thunk!

The large wolf collapsed
on Brian’s chest, knocking the air from his lungs. Clover’s eyes
rolled in the back of her head and her tongue hung out of the side
of her mouth. Romulus stood over Brian with his arm still
raised
from
bashing Clover in the back of the head with the hilt of his
sword.

Lupa growled, displeased with
Romulus.

“Really? Would you have preferred I
cut her head off?” Romulus snapped.

Lupa snorted at his remark and bounded
off to help other soldiers with Eversor clones.

The sun reflected off
something shiny in the dirt next to Brian. Romulus bent down
and
picked
up the
wolf
pendant
that
Elpis ripped from Breanna’s neck. Romulus helped Brian to his feet
and showed him Bre’s half of the charm.

“Where did Elpis take her?” Brian
asked as he frantically searched the battle.

“Not sure, but wherever
she is, she failed to save Anath. That explosion in the sky was the
Phoenician pantheon dying an extremely fiery death.” Romulus
quickly deflected an attacking clone and slashed its head off. “I
do know, however, that without this amulet she is vulnerable to
possession. With the amount of eagles around here and Elpis roaming
free, and apparently victorious, Bre must be under her
spell
,
or…”

“Don’t say it,” Brian
warned, pointing a finger threateningly at Romulus. He could
not
stand the thought of
Breanna
being
dead.

Out of the corner of his eye, Brian
saw Leora stalk towards a cave to the right of where they
stood.

“There. They must be in there,” Brian
said pointing to the cave.

When Leora entered the
cave, an eagle let out an ear
-
piercing screech.

Brian ran towards the
cave
,
but Romulus
grabbed his arm and yanked him to a stop
.
“Wait, she’ll need this
too.”

Romulus pulled off his own
wolf
pendant
and
held it next to Breanna’s. When Romulus pressed his half to
Breanna’s
,
the
two pieces reunited. The two wolves once again stood side by
side
,
glistening
in
gold as if they had never been separated. In the reflection
of the wolf, Remus smiled up at his brother. The image of Remus
quickly changed to reflect an eagle descending down on him and
Brian.

Both Romulus and
Brian
turned to attack the bird,
but
two arrows lodged
into the bird’s chest and dropped the eagle at Romulus’
feet.

“Nice shot, Eoghan,” Brian
acknowledged his skilled aim.

“Brian, go help your brother, he looks
like he needs it,” Romulus demanded, motioning to Cailean who
struggled against Eversor’s magic.

“Bre
.
We need to help Bre,” Brian
said and
turned back to
the cave.

“No, we are needed here.
Eoghan, however, is not.” Romulus firmly grabbed Eoghan by the
shoulder and looked him in the eyes. “How good are you with that
bow? Can you get the bird without being in the cave?” Romulus
pointed at
the
gold eagle that kept squawking at
Leora
.

Without a hint of arrogance or
concern, Eoghan silently reached back, grabbed a single arrow from
his quiver, and nocked it in his bow. When he pulled back the
arrow, the horsehair strings and the arrows shimmered in a silver
light. The arrow shot forward and lit up the darkness to reveal Bre
and Elpis unconscious on the ground. When the arrow found its
target, the gold bird fell to the floor and the light
disappeared.

“Bre!” Brian tried running to Bre, but
once again, Romulus held him back.

“Damn it, man! I said
help
your
brother!” Romulus shoved Brian at Cailean. “Eoghan, help Bre
and put this
pendant
around her neck. It will prevent any possessions. She will
then at least be able to help us kill that damn demon woman!”
Romulus sprinted off to fight other Eversor clones.

Eoghan sighed at his trivial task and
casually walked into the cave.

Chapter 39

The Heartaches of
Love

B
re sat up, dizzy
,
her head pounding in rhythm with her heart. A
dead gold eagle
was
sprawled at her feet with an arrow protruding from its chest.
Next to her, Elpis
lay
unconscious, bleeding from her brow. Bre watched her chest
for movement, holding her breath in hope Elpis’ chest did not rise.
Bre exhaled and hung her head in a disappointment when
Elpis’
breathing was
steady and strong.

The
dagger
, she thought to herself.

Bre frantically surveyed
the cave, afraid to make noise and wake Elpis. She spotted the
dagger near the entrance lodged in between the cave wall and stones
that fell during the explosion. She glanced at Elpis then back at
the dagger. She slowly stood and crept over rocks, heading to the
entrance. Bre jumped over a large boulder, almost to the entrance.
When she jumped
,
her dress wedged
between
the rock
and several
smaller stones,
and suddenly a small
landslide of rocks tumbled off to the side of her. Her heart
pounding, Bre checked on unconscious Elpis.

“Tartarus,” Bre cursed to herself. She
whipped around and ran to grab the dagger.

With the dagger
inches from her fingertips, Elpis appeared in
front of her. Elpis withdrew the dagger from the wall with ease and
admired it as a string of red light clung to its tip.

“Did you really think you
would be able to get this from me? It belongs to
me
,
after all,”
Elpis smiled
and
stared protectively at the red light.

The shadow of a man fell
at the entrance of the cave. Eoghan emerged with bow and arrow.
Upon walking in on the two women,
he
tossed his bow aside and withdrew
his sword, spinning the blade around his arm, waiting for Elpis to
attack.

Bre conjured her sword and
without waiting for Eoghan slashed at Elpis’
neck
.
Eoghan
followed Bre’s lead and lunged at
Elpis’
abdomen.

However, Elpis was quick
and spun out of their way. Eoghan whirled around to rebound, but
Elpis disappeared then reappeared behind him. She cracked his sword
hand on a rock, forcing him to release his weapon. He ground
his
teeth
and held
his wrist
against his chest. He tried to move it
,
but his thumb moved over two bones
that used to be one. Elpis wrapped her arm around Eoghan’s throat,
forcing him to bend backwards because he was
taller
.
She
pressed against him, using him as a shield.

Bre halted her attack
and
watched
in
horror, unsure of what Elpis would do to him.

Elpis laughed at Bre’s
helplessness
.
“I
can fix him, you know. I can make him whole
again
,
make him
remember his feelings for you. You did me a favor in killing the
Phoenicians
;
this
is your reward.”

Elpis ripped open Eoghan’s
shirt and placed her hand over his bare chest. His chest lit up
with a pink light and tears
welled
in his eyes. He gasped in between sobs to catch
his breath.

“Eoghan!” Breanna screamed.

Tears streaming down his face, Eoghan
met Bre’s frantic stare and mouthed the words, ‘I’m
sorry.’

Bre stood speechless,
staring at Eoghan as all his emotions flooded back to him. She felt
every emotion as they returned
,
as if they passed through her first. It began
with pain, then remorse, then
the
return of the longing he had for her,
and finished with
every
fear he had of losing her and the intense devotion he
still
held for
her.