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A brANCH OF HOPE

T he first part of our plan went underway without a hitch, as we managed to lure the Hydra out of its home just in time. As soon as the Hydra spotted the army coming its way, it started attacking. Quickly leaving the smaller prey of the Cerastes to slither away.

Our scouts had been watching from afar and had been led by Bill. This after he had assured me that he’d had dealings with these Cerastes creatures before.

Which meant that like we predicted, Garmr had no choice but to lead his army towards the Valley of Gods, where he would find us waiting ready for battle. The valley was exactly what it sounded like. A mountain pass that narrowed first before opening up to where the statues of Gods would watch and protect travelers that ventured through. But the biggest of these statues was of Hades himself. One which was situated at the narrowest point, as if welcoming those to a place to worship the deities of the Underworld. A statue that was over a hundred foot in height.

This was also where the bottleneck was, the one that we would use to our advantage. But as for me, I wouldn’t be part of the battle, for I would have my own personal fight to contend with. The reminder of such was strapped to my back in a sheath, that this time didn’t hold a sword, but what I was hoping was a far more important weapon.

As for Orthrus, Dariush, and myself, we were all waiting for the right opportunity to put our part of the plan into action. Something we couldn’t do until we saw Ella. Which was why we stayed hidden at one of the taller peaks on the mountain waiting to spot her. Of course, I knew that Garmr would want to keep her at a safe distance from the fight, as he couldn’t risk anything happening to her.

But, with that being said, she would still need to see those that she brought back, as well as be within distance to control the souls she had acquired when taking hold of that book. Which was why it became increasingly difficult to watch as the battle began, knowing I could be of help in my HellBeast form. But Dom had been right, the moment I saw the sheer numbers of Garmr’s army, I knew the battle would not be easy to win, if not impossible.

Not unless I could get Ella back. Because with her by Garmr’s side, it would never matter how many lives we took on the battlefield, not when they would only become another soul to add to her collection. A soul we would have no chance at killing. Not when they would simply return to the book seeking the power needed to continue the fight.

“Gods,” my brother uttered the second he saw what I did. Legions of HellHounds leading the battle, with other creatures that had joined in his cause. I wondered if they knew what this war actually stood for. That it wasn’t to take over Hell, but instead to destroy it entirely? Would they still fight alongside him? I doubted it, but then, half of his army belonged to Clay, and believed Garmr to be their true king.

The clash of these two forces as they came together set us all on edge, as I could see Dom leading the way with the other Kings spread out along the front line.

Sigurd’s darkness created a wall of night around a large group of HellHounds, as serpents lashed out from the thick black fog. His own army created a similar effect, causing mayhem and confusion between Garmr’s ranks.

Seth unleashed his own terror, becoming a monster so fierce he wreaked havoc among our enemies. My own HellBeasts ran into the fray, tearing apart the smaller HellHounds. Doing so as if they were no more than yapping demonic dogs. My council headed the army we had only just managed to get here in time.

As for Keira and Amelia, I knew they had not been allowed to fight, despite them being capable. But their husbands had convinced them to keep the innocent people at the camp safe in case any threat managed to break through. But even I knew that this was only an excuse so as Dom and Lucius could fight without concern for their safety.

Marcus and Bill both had been ordered to stay behind to protect them incase Garmr was to try anything. As for Koro, he had hidden Lerna somewhere safe. This was just in case she became Garmr’s next target, and if Ella’s true self managed a way to fight back against his control somehow. As it was clear she wouldn’t have hurt her, no matter how evil Garmr had twisted her mind.

“I don’t see her!” I snapped, forcing my gaze from the battle that raged on, trying to spot her in the distance.

“There, look!” my brother shouted when he spotted the green mist rising around a lone figure. As suspected, she was at the back, with Garmr standing not too far away from her. Although when he mounted a Colchian Dragon, which was essentially a long yellow snake with slim wings, I knew that now was our shot. As his focus was now on the battle below.

“We have to go now! Can you get me behind her?” I said, looking to Dariush.

“If I can see it, I can do it. But I can only take one of you at a time through the portal,” Dariush replied, making me look to my brother who gritted his teeth before saying,

“Fine, but don’t get dead in the minutes it takes me to get to you.”

I smirked and said,

“I will try my best.”

Then I ran for the portal Dariush created, taking a deep breath before stepping through. The mantra in my mind played on a loop, ‘ this has to work, this has to work.’

That jarring feeling took over for a few seconds before I found myself looking at her back, as she was working her Summoning magic, pushing it to the front line. Her souls barged through before she could make those we had killed rise up to fight once more. An army of green ghostly figures of their former shell now charging into the living.

I crept up behind her, at the same time pulling the branch from my back, ready to force her to touch it. But I never made it to her in time before I was spotted. Because I hadn’t clocked the guards she had with her, now running at me, and giving me no choice but drop the branch as I was forced to deal with them.

“YOU!” she roared at me, the green glow of her eyes far more demonic than last time, telling me she was getting ever more lost by the day. And I had to remember, a week had passed. The dark emerald green of her armor shimmered like a diesel spill on tarmac. The darkness around her eyes transforming her beauty into something menacing and demonic.

I slashed out with my claws at the two guards that I had seen in his castle that day, ugly, red skinned fuckers that took no time at all to put down. Now as for my demonic fiancé, she was a different story. One that started with me being grabbed from behind, right after I had killed the threat. Which put me now facing a very different one, as she tossed me into the trees, making me split the wood.

“Didn’t I kill you?!” she roared at me, her voice once sweet and gentle, now hard with hatred.

“Fuck, babe, you not tired of throwing me into shit yet?” I said with a wince, cracking my dislocated shoulder back into place. But then she was running at me, making me duck out of the way just in time, telling her,

“That ain’t a very nice way to treat your HellBeast,” I said, making her scream at me,

“He is dead, as you soon will be!”

But as she continued to come at me, I continued to try and make my way back to the branch, rolling just in time before she took my head off with a whip of her powers. As for the branch, I landed close enough that I was just reaching out for it, when suddenly I was being dragged backwards. I looked down to see the green ropes of her power wrapped around one of my ankles, which I had no chance at fighting. I knew that when she used them to lift me upright, so as she could start to choke me once more. It was becoming obvious this was a favorite of hers. But then she surprised me by asking,

“Why do you continue to try and take me, when it will only mean your death?” She pinned me against the cracked tree and only loosened her hold on me when she could see I was trying to speak.

“Because I would do anything to save you… even from yourself,” I said, now looking behind her and seeing my one and only chance present itself. Because my brother had just made it through the portal.

Luckily, he quickly spotted the branch, reached for it, and I nodded, telling him I was ready. She looked behind her just as he tossed it to me, making me catch it before she had a chance to stop it. Then I told her,

“…Even this!”

Then I thrust the branch at her, making her stagger back at the same time she purposely caught it. I landed on my feet and watched as emotions started to play out across her face. A single word now escaping her lips.

“Mother.”

I closed my eyes as relief washed over me, only opening them again when I heard the roar of anger coming from above. Garmr had spotted us and was now calling her name.

“Anástasi!”

To which she shook her head as if fighting within herself. I gritted my teeth, wishing I could turn into my HellBeast and rip the fucker apart. But I also knew I couldn’t chance it, as like this, it would only see Ella as a threat.

Garmr dropped down from the flying serpent and held his hand up, making her suddenly tense. Her eyes had seeped back into the girl I loved when she came into contact with the branch. But now they started to glow once more, before her head snapped back up to mine. Then she told me in a deadly tone,

“My mother is dead!”

A statement she cemented by crushing the branch in her hand, making the pieces fall to the floor and with it, the last of my hope.

“NO! No, Ella! What… what have you done!?” I called out in shock, truly believing that it would have worked.

“NOW KILL HIM THIS TIME!” Garmr ordered.

Unlike before, she didn’t use a piece of wood. No, she had something far more effective as she made power extend out her hand. A piece of her summoning magic formed into a flaming green sword, one held at the ready to end me. However, before she could make the first strike, my brother got there first, hitting her over the head with a rock and knocking her out cold. After this all her souls disappeared at once, making Garmr roar out in anger as he raced towards us.

As for me, the second I saw the blood trickling from her forehead, I fell to my knees next to her, something my brother wouldn’t allow for long.

“No, I can’t leave her… I can’t…!” I was grabbed from behind and tossed towards the portal Dariush was keeping open. The struggle on his face told me that it wouldn’t be for much longer.

“Hurry!” he shouted, but my mind was solely on Ella. The whole side of the army now coming for us at Garmr’s demand. A horde of them far too great for us to ever fight. Something my brother knew.

“We can’t fight them all, brother, come on!” he shouted as the portal began to fade. And just before it could disappear completely, and as Dariush was stepping inside, I felt myself suddenly pushed from behind. I fell through the portal and out the other side where we had first waited. I landed flat on the ground, my hands barely saving my face as I panted and thought through all that had just happened.

It hadn’t worked.

I had failed.

She touched the branch, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to bring her back. Wasn’t enough to make her remember her past life. I hammered a fist to the ground, knowing I had just barely made it out of there. But there was one thing I hadn’t expected next, as my nightmare was far from over.

“I am sorry,” Dariush said, making me frown as I pushed up and looked back at him. The confusion on my face was easy to see when I finally asked,

“Wait… where is Orthrus?”

Dariush shook his head and told me,

“I couldn’t keep it open any longer.”

I gasped and staggered back.

“No… no… where is he? Where is my brother?!” I roared, now running towards where we had come from, ready to race back down there and fight the fucking army to get him back! But Dariush stopped me, grabbing me from behind, telling me,

“You’re no help to them both if you’re dead! It’s too late, they have him. He pushed you through so you could live, Jared, but if I let you go, then his sacrifice will have been for nothing!”

I tried to fight, only to lose it to my agony. The pain making me drop to my knees as my anguish overwhelmed me.

My brother.

He had been taken.

“Come, it is over,” Dariush said, prompting me to lift my head to see that he was right. Our army had started to retreat, just after Adam’s beast emerged. The deafening roar that rocked the valley of the Gods wasn’t enough to drown out the howl of agony that came straight from my HellBeast.

Not even the crashing sound and destruction of the statue of Hades was enough to pull me from this torment. I realized that we had lost so much more than just the battle. And as the sight of the Gods figures smashing to the floor created a barrier between us and them, it became symbolic for what Hades had told me.

The cost of love… was pain.

Because now Fate had taken two people I loved away.

Neither of which, did I know…

Were dead or not.