A/N: Howdy all! It's time for the quest two finale'! Woohoo, I'm going to have a lot of fun with this chapter, there should be some really cool scenes and a fun closing act! Also… it's chapter 20! Hope you guys enjoy this special chapter, I'm making it extra-long since there's so much going on and to help make up for the break in uploads.
Anyways, hope everyone enjoys!
End of Quest II
With Samson, Summer 1966
The sound of combat in the distance shook me away from my worrying state. Allen gave me ambrosia after he came back, but forced me to stay seated and heal while he went to look for Mori.
I was worried when I gave Mori my amulet, for a long time I was afraid of giving her things of true power. Magic has been known to corrupt people, especially when someone who's already gifted suddenly finds themselves with more power.
The roaring of battle shakes away whatever sense of doubt and fear I had. Mori's potentially in danger, I can't just sit back and do nothing!
I slide off my cot, my thigh stings in pain as my wound has yet to fully heal and break off into the forest in the direction I heard the strife coming from.
The sun's beginning to fall, the red light casting strange shadows as the forest seeps slowly into darkness.
Forest brush parts before, some from a slash of my blade and others at the insistence of fearfully Nymphs hoping to save their trees from harm.
Clanks and crashes echo eerily through the forest, sometimes it comes from the right, others from the left. My only saving grace from total disorientation is that the noise gets louder as I progress forward and therefore easier to narrow down the location.
After a minute the sounds of struggle have become very loud. I explode through the brush and find some kind of giant goblin and to my surprise Laila tag teaming Allen!
I race forward, stumbling slightly as pain flares up in my leg, and try and help out Allen before he's injured or even killed.
My worry is unfounded when in an impressive display of skill he deflects two blows from the goblin champion and the lamia an quickly jabs the edge of his shield into Laila's gut, launching her several feet backwards.
Ha! She fell for the same move twice from two different people!
Laila rises to her feet, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth as she hisses angrily at the unknown goblin warrior.
"HSSS! Skullfucker! Kill this fool and you'll earn a bonus! If you live and bring their heads to me, THEN you'll get the rest of your pay doubled!"
…Skullfucker, the now named goblin, grunts in acknowledgment and continues his assault on Allen whom duels in an impressive display of skill and strength against the goblin whom fights equally as well.
I turn my attention to Laila whose slit pupiled eyes widen as she meets my furious glare. She curses under her breath and turns around and races towards something laying on the ground.
My eyes widen, and fury wells up inside of me when I realize that Mori is lying still on the ground, likely unconscious and completely helpless as a snake witch races towards her.
With a roar a blast of crackling air erupts from my hand and charges through the air like a cannon ball at the witch who quickly turns around and swiped a hand through my spell, green fire spits into the air from her hand, but thankfully is dissipates before it touches the ground.
I grit my teeth and throw a different spell at her, a translucent javelin, and aim for her head. Laila narrows her eyes and waves her hand, crackling green energy wafts through the air and knocks my projectile off course where it shatters like glass against a tree.
She slides across the grass and stops just in front of Mori. She hops over her body and lifts her into her arms, preventing me from attacking with any other spells I know.
Before I can ask anything from the witch, she smirks at me and raise a hand and shows me, in full glory, her extended middle finger.
The in a brilliant display, white fire wraps around them like a vortex before simmering away, leaving no sign at all that people were once there.
Dammit, they've teleported!
Whooping and hollering sudden rings through the air, fuck not now! The brush erupts in activity as a hundred goblins trample through the forest and surround Allen, Skullfucker and myself in a large arena style circle.
The kobalos holler and cheer as they wave their weapons, taunting me and making violent promises of death.
Skullfucker grins and paces around Allen and myself, us demigods maneuvering so we're back to back, and raises his gangly arms in the air.
The army cheers even louder as he swaggers around the perimeter, acting like a shark circling his wounded prey.
Guess that's not a horrible comparison to make.
The cheers soon turn to shrieks as dozens of kobalos are flung through the air and whipped to the sides. I focus my vision and see tree roots shooting up from the ground and lashing out at every monster around them.
Different cries sing from the forest and the brush once again erupts in action as this time Nymphs and assorted Satyrs, dozens of them, charge the goblin ranks, nature magic sounds from flutes and urges nature itself to attack her foes.
Thomas, Daisy and Horse follow behind the nature spirits and charge with a cry of valor and crash into the disoriented goblin ranks.
Satyr's smash goblins with wooden clubs and Nymphs stab their hearts with spear shaped branches all while tree roots and branches tear scattered kobalos to pieces. My companions hack, slash and trample their way through a dozen goblins whom barely collect themselves begin vicious combat with their nature-aligned cousins.
Skullfucker roars in fury as his companions engage in battle with the forces of nature but turns his attention to us instead of helping his kin.
Allen and I face down the champion warrior across from us as a furious battle rages around us.
"Allen, who the fuck is this guy? I've never seen a goblin this big, let alone one who can combat a champion on equal terms."
He shifts his weapons and rolls his aching shoulders, "His name is Skullfucker, he's a goblin champion fighter, likely the strongest of them. He's been an enemy of the Defenders for years; his skill and personal armies have claimed the lives of hundreds of demigods over the years."
"Skullfucker huh? I wonder why he's named that!"
Allen looks at me weird, "I just told you, he's called Skullfucker! He's rumored to take his foes skulls and shag their eye sockets!"
I roll my eyes, "For gods' sake Allen, you're as dense as a rock! I figured as much, I was being coy!"
He just shrugs, "Oh, I've been meaning to ask, but why haven't I seen you at any of the council meetings?"
"Um, because I'm not allowed? Only champions are allowed to attend those."
"Well, you are a champion. Your name's in the register list, I sent your welcoming letter a while ago!"
I look at him shocked, "I'm someone's champion?! To whom?! Since when?!"
Skullfucker screams and charges at us before Allen can respond. Dammit, I wanted to know which god I'm a champion too!
The goblin warrior's sword swings for our necks in lightning speed, but the combined training of two demigod champions caused him to miss as we ducked.
I go low and slash my cutlass for his legs, Allen goes high and tries to slit his throat with his javelin. Unfortunately, Skullfucker is very skilled and raises his leg so my sword bounces off his metal shin armor and deflects Allen's spear with his shield.
The goblin's sword returns to slash us, but we parry with our shields, his strike gongs loudly but fails to cause any real harm.
He goes to slam us with his shield, but I disperse my sword and shield and catch it with my hands. Skullfucker scowls, but soon shrieks in pain as I channel magic energy into his weapons, causing coursing electricity to flow into them and by extension him as well.
Allen spins his spear and aims to stab the goblin in the chest. Skullfucker's eyes widen and angles his body so the spear instead collides with the small bit of metal plating on his chest.
It tings off, but he's not finished yet as the goblin suddenly swipes me with his arm and surprisingly sends me to the ground hard.
He goes to stab my belly, but Allen quickly jabs with his javelin and distracts him. Taking the opportunity, I pull my silver dagger from my belt and quickly throw it before the goblin can notice.
The monster squeals in pain as my dagger penetrates deep into his unarmored thigh. Allen launches a flurry of strikes that Skullfucker only barely parries while trying to move with a blade sticking in his leg.
In an instant I'm back on my feet and blindsiding him as I tackle him to the ground. The super goblin screams and tries to stab me with his sword, but faster that the blink of an eye I grab my dagger and tear it free from his leg and slash his wrist, taking his entire sword hand off in a quick and clean cut.
He screams in pain as noxious blood explodes from his arm stump. He tries to bash me with his shield but my weapon cuts through the air, it's short length allows me to angle it around the and stab him deep in the wrist.
Another shriek rings in my ears as I yank it free and cut his shield hand off as well. The screams and roars of pain deafen the battle around us as all look upon the defeated and humiliated champion.
With a victorious roar I drive my dagger deep into his putrid heart. He groans and croaks for a second before stilling and turning into a wretched pile of golden dust.
I stand to my feet, my shirt and face coated in goblin blood and stare down the remaining kobalos sprites. They freeze in horror as I hold my blade out and point across the goblin ranks, daring a new warrior to challenge me.
None step forward.
I take a single step, and all hell breaks loose as the goblins holler in fear and abandon their fight and flee into the darkening night. My nature spirit allies cheer in victory and hurl insults at the fleeing sprites.
Allen clomps a hand on my shoulder and grins at me, "Dude, you've just avenged the deaths of a hundred demigods and proven that you truly are champion material! I think you've got what it takes to be a defender, I'll have to talk with the council beforehand, though."
I tilt my head to the side, "What the Hades are the Defenders?"
After our battle with the goblin army, my quest-mates and I went back to our camp. Despite our victory we're quiet as we sit around the camp fire whose warm light helps calm our frazzled nerves.
Night has finally stretched across the sky; the silver moon seems impossibly big tonight. I guess Artemis is feeling showy tonight, huh?
Allen peeks at me occasionally as I cook some rabbits Thomas had caught earlier. I know he wants to ask me something, I can feel his curiosity and worry with my empathy powers.
"Hey, Samson?" Allen goes, "Are you doing okay? The lamia have taken Mori and you've been quiet ever since."
Daisy and Thomas quiet down and give me their attention as well, curiosity getting the better of them.
I sigh in half parts annoyance and half parts despondence.
"Truthfully, I'm quite upset. Hell, I'm worried, terrified and furious! They've hurt my friend and taken her away from me, they will pay for crossing me. But, I can only take this one day at a time; we're injured, weary and low on supplies. Mori can handle herself, the lamia aren't strong and they didn't kill her outright. That means they want her alive, which means we have time on our side."
My companions nod to themselves, it's the only reasonable to think things out before running willy-nilly into a confrontation with an enemy we know next to nothing about.
Who knows what the lamia have in waiting, we could get ourselves slaughtered if we don't go after them at our best or without having a proper advantage over them.
"Allen, would the manticore be willing to share any more information about the lamia? We know where they are, but nothing about a weakness we can exploit."
He grimaces, "Yeaaah… about that. Mori froze him with some kind of spell then we locked him in a closet. If we want to get anything else from him, we'll probably have to force it out. I'm not sure how long the spell she casted will last, or if he's even broken free already! A manticore is a powerful monster, we'll need to be careful when fighting him."
I groan into my hands, fucking Hades why can't anything go my way on these quests! We all agree to go after Dr. Thorn in the morning time, fighting a manticore in our weakened state is practically inviting Thanatos to come and claim us.
We eat our meal for the night and retire to the tents Daisy summoned for us. Tomorrow we have a job to do.
We're gonna go kick Manticore ass!
It was noon when we arrived at the town Allen and Mori had been to yesterday. As I had suspected, the lamia aren't trying to attack us here. As arrogant as they are, they won't dare make a move on Manticore territory, even they fear repercussions of such an act.
Now we're about to do the same thing, twice. Ah gods, why does being a demigod have to be so hard?
The town is eerily quiet as we travel towards to university, the magic of the mist weighs heavy in the air. Even if I'm not a child of Hecate I can sense the strength of its power.
He's expecting us, it seems.
The courtyard of the college is empty when we arrive at the gates. Nothing but the gently afternoon wind makes sound. The birds and insects are quiet, no mortals inside make a peep as we travel deeper into the campus.
Rounding a corner, we come to face a heavy fog permeating the innermost courtyard, the milky white substance is so thick we can't even see through it.
All our weapons find their way into our hands, the heavy presence in the fog leaves no room for argument about what's in there.
I summon my shield in my right arm and the enchanted fire runs down the spine of my cutlass. I nod at Daisy and she waves her hand, causing the fog to start dissipating.
Little by little the fog disappears to reveal a massive and terrifying form. The beast has a vaguely human like face with mismatched brown and blue eyes, a hulking lions body with thick and wrangled fur, and most dangerous of all is the scorpions tail with spikes jutting out from the stinger, giving it a vague appearance of a spiked club.
A deep growl, almost like thunder rumbling in the clouds, ripples through his throat.
"Little morsels have returned, no doubt trying to finish me off while I was frozen. Hmph, I thought halflings were honorable and craved a challenge, guess I was wrong."
He raises his body with a heavy groan, mismatched eyes glaring at us with trembling hate, "I freed myself from the spell your witch casted not long ago; You've saved me the trouble of hunting you down by coming here yourselves. Faithless demigods always hunt trouble down themselves, all the easier for monsters to rid the world of disgusting filth!"
I roll my eyes and Thomas yells a quick insult about Thorn being 'lame', much to the chagrin of the monsters.
"Would there be a chance we could talk this out, even if we promise to kill your enemies, the lamia?"
He just grins, mouth full of rows of serrated fangs.
"No chance at all."
With a furious roar that shakes the very ground, the manticore charges us with gusto.
Thomas goes right, Daisy goes left and Allen and I stay in the center of the charging path, waiting for the right moment.
Each footstep Dr. Thorn makes kicks up dirt as his claws scratch deep into the ground, saliva slobbers from his mouth as his natural animal instincts overwrites any civilized aspects he once held.
At first, he was fifty feet away, but each step in his sprinting ticks off another ten feet.
Forty feet, thirty, twenty, ten, NOW!
We duck down low, practically kissing the ground, as the monster goes sailing over our head and crashes through a metal statue some odd yards back. The impact gongs loudly as his body dents the metal statue beyond recognition.
Ouch, that's got to hurt.
Before Thorn can recollect himself, we all charge to deal as much damage as we can.
An astral spear forms in my hand which Daisy quickly casts a spell on, causing electricity to sizzle on the tip. I throw the electrified spear and hit him in the gut, the monsters body convulsing in pain as thousands of volts course through his flesh.
In a show of acrobatics, Thomas jumps through the air, spinning just to show off, and lands on the back of Dr. Thorn. Before the monster could unleash a flurry of deadly projectile spines, he grabs the tail under his arm and uses all his strength to control the direction it aims.
Poison laced barbs fly off in random directions, smashing through windows and stabbing into stones as my brother wrestles with the tail.
Dr. Thorn reaches around with a grabbing paw and yanks my magic spear from his side, pulling chunks of flesh and a small bit of organ with a thundering roar of agony and fury.
I deflect a stray projectile and race towards the monster. He lurches from the rubble and goes to gore my guts open with his claws, I parry with my shield, sparks flying as his nail scrape against the hardened metal and follow up to swipe his wrist.
He dodges my swipe and spins his body around and slaps me hard with his tail. I fly backwards and crash into the ground with a grunt of pain. I'm thankful Juggernaut is such excellent armor; the silver indestructible jacket Artemis gave me does a surprisingly good job of softening my impact.
I'm on my feet in a second and back after the manticore. Daisy's unveiled her true form and has wrapped her serpentine half all around Dr. Thorn and squeezes him like a python.
Thomas dangles from the tail, stabbing repeatedly into the crevices of the armor as Allen distracts the front end. The manticore lurches and headbutts Allen who covers his body with his shield as he too is sent spiraling backwards twenty feet.
Before he could pounce and crush Allen I leap forward and drive my cutlass into his shoulder, the wound sizzling as my fire licked sword burns the from the inside out.
Roaring Thorn reaches around and grabs my side with his claw and slams me into the ground, knocking the air from my lungs and stepping down with a paw onto my sword.
Pain erupts from my shoulder as Dr. Thorn bites down hard onto me. My jacket keeps his teeth from penetrating my flesh, but the pressure of his crushing bite strains my bones and threatens to turn them to powder!
Daisy, my saving grace, sees my predicament and extends a clawed hand and scratches the right eye of the manticore, causing him to roar in pain and release me from his mouth.
My shoulder aches in pain, but I ignore it and draw my silver dagger and drive it into joint of his shoulder, hoping to reduce his maneuverability.
His good eye widens as he spots the dagger, "Aaagh! Cursed metal, how did you get that! Treacherous she-devil always finds a way to humiliate me, even to go so low as to gift a blade to a man!"
Ignoring his statement, I throw all my weight into the dagger and drive it all the way into his body, even burying the handle into the flesh so he can't remove it with his claws.
I roll backwards, my shoulder flaring in pain, to dodge the swipe from his other claw. As he goes to pounce at me, Allen throws his javelin into the same shoulder I stabbed. Dr. Thorn crumbles to the ground as his shoulder gives out from the abuse and I take the opportunity to recover my cutlass from the ground.
My cutlass wizzes through the air and cuts deep horizontally across the Thorn's ribs, blood pouring out in a torrent as I expose blood vessels and arteries.
He screams in agony and cranes his head around and bites Daisy's tail and starts attempting to pull her off. She hisses in pain and responds by throwing a wave of green fire into his face.
Unfortunately, he doesn't let go, even as his face burns and melts under the heat and continues to bite even harder.
Sensing her distress, Thomas tears a dagger free from the carapace of the scorpion tail and chops into one of the loose spikes on the stinger, knocking it free and catching it. He lets go of the tail and drops onto Thorn's back and stabs his dagger straight down next to the spine.
Blood squirts out and coats his face, he wipes it off and rips his dagger out brutally and drives the spine he took into the same hole he made. Dr. Thorn screams as his own poison courses into his body and triggering every pain nerve as his blood stream carries the poison even further.
He starts thrashing about, but Thomas isn't done. In the monster's state of frenzy Thomas takes his dagger and drives it in between the vertebrae of Dr. Thorn's spine, attempting to damage or destroy the nerves controlling the lower body.
Thorn suddenly bucks hard and Throws Thomas from his back; he works his paw and wedges it between his fur and Daisy's tail and presses down, removing the constriction from his body and pressing her body to the ground, pinning her trapped beneath his strength.
Daisy shrieks as he starts biting into her tail but responds by jabbing her sword into his weaker underbelly.
That'a girl.
Allen's back on his feet engages Dr. Thorn, slashing into his face and jabbing his paws.
Thorn attempts to whip his tail at us and launch spikes, but the appendage fails to move properly and jerks around; dangerous spines popping off and flinging harmlessly around us.
Thomas and I grin at each other, the poison and the spine damage paid off! He can't control his tail anymore!
With a roar our party is back in action, hacking and slashing into his thick hide; Daisy's spells burning hide away and my own manifesting in ethereal chains that slowly ensnare the manticore. He claws my dagger free from his shoulder, severely damaging his flesh, and roars in fury.
Our battle is a vicious exchange of blows; Thorn's tail randomly whips and smacks one of us away, we respond by stabbing his claws and slashing his thighs.
Slowly as the battle drags on I add more and more chains around the monster, the chains snaked through the grass and attached themselves to the walls of building around us. Just a minute more and there should be enough to enact my trap!
Dr. Thorn's movements become slow and sluggish, the weariness, blood loss and poison has taken its toll, in a moments time he'll collapse entirely.
Just as predicted, the manticore pants one final time crashes onto the ground. His good eye glares at us with the upmost hate, but otherwise makes to more movements.
"So-" He wheezes in effort, "-I have been defeated. Is this where you gloat over me? The brave heroes have vanquished the evil foe, save the peons and whatnot."
He rolls his wrist in a weak mocking gesture, "Well, be on with it! I'd rather reform in Tartarus then wallow in agony here. Oh, and staring at your ugly faces makes this all the worse!"
I raise an eyebrow at him. Really? He's resorting to trash talking now? Gods what a fucking child. His tail twitches minutely but I pretend I don't notice. He's walking right into my plan!
"I didn't come here to kill you, let alone fight. What I need is information; the lamia have taken something precious to me and I need it back. We know where they live but a weakness of theirs would help tremendously. A Child of Athena always has a plan, but to make one requires information. Information you have."
My eyes harden as I stare down at him, I'm doing my best to appear arrogant and superior. Just a bit longer…
Thorn grins ferally, "Ah, there's that famous halfling arrogance! And here I thought you were better. Your kind has always acted as our betters, as paragons of morality; all you are is a misguided fool. A slave for your precious Olympians."
I roll my eyes at his dramatics. Any monster that can speak always says the same godsdamn shit; they're like a broken record at this point.
His tail twitches again but I pretend I don't notice and continue my act.
"Can we just cut to the chase here? All I want is information on the lamia's weakness, then we'll be gone. You don't want me here and I don't want to be here; so cough it up!"
He growls lowly, "Horses, those she-snakes fear large horses. At least the older and more dangerous ones are; that beast they have chained up in their stables gave them a lifelong phobia. If you're smart you can figure something out."
My eyes widen a little, memories from my dream flood back into my mind. For a second the feeling I got from looking into those volcanic eyes creeps up my spine, but I steel my courage and the horror fades away.
The dream finally makes sense now, why I saw that demon horse thing. If I set it free, then it will almost certainly cause the lamia to panic and make them easier to dispatch. Perhaps that's why the being in my dream asked me to free it? It wants revenge against its captors.
With Horse and the mysterious other horse, then complete panic will tear through the lamia. During that panic I can find Mori and with everyone together we can kill the lamia and end their threat for good!
The tail twitches minutely once again.
"So you've found your plan then? Demigods always find some way to be on top, the very Fates themselves seem to favor your kind. Us monsters are always beneath your boots; once I was a great and mighty beast! Warriors of all kinds would come to face me, and like unimportant vermin they fell and were devoured. Even if I've been defeated before, one piece of information always lightened my heart. Do you know what it is? It's that no matter what happens, I always return. Halflings come and go, live hard and die young. But I'm eternal, immortal."
I lean in, everything's going according to the plan.
"Tell me then, filthy peon. How do you wish to die?!"
In a flash of movement, quick as lighting, his tail flurries out and strikes to impale me right in the face.
Having predicted this before Thorn even thought about it, I enact my plan. With a snap of my fingers, the magic chains I wrapped around him sling to life, tightening around his body and lifting him up in the air as the loose chains attached to the surrounding buildings lose their slack.
He roars as his tail is pressed to his body, chains encasing his body like a metal mummy. He struggles and writhes in fury in vain, the magic bindings are too powerful to be broken easily.
As the chains tighten his body rises in the air; five feet, then fifteen, all the way until he's suspended thirty feet up.
We all smirk as he struggles in the air, he almost looks like a caterpillar suspended in a spider's web. Daisy, who's transformed back into human form, taps my shoulder.
I look over and she smiles and hands me a portable camera. I grin and barely hold back a laugh. Thorn's eyes widen, and he starts screaming insults and curses at us.
Thomas whips out his tripod stand (where the hell does he keep that?) and sets up the timer.
We all pose in stupid positions, shit eating grins on our as the shutter flashes. Our triumph over the manticore immortalized forever; Thomas squatting and pointing finger guns at Thorn, me standing by his side and holding a peace sing up with one hand and in the other I point at the entrapped monster. Allen stands across from us, looking stoic with his bronze body armor and weapons. Daisy, the crazy lady that she is, squats with her legs out horizontally and her arms across her chest in an X-shaped pattern, a goofy smile on her face. All the while a blurry manticore yowls with a maw full of sharp teeth.
What a fucking day, dude.
After gaining the important information from Dr. Thorn, our adventure/rescue group set off on Horse's back (haha, get it?) to save our friend and kill her captors!
Wow, that sounds pretty violent.
Anyways we have roughly a week until we hit the Okefenokee swamps. Normally it would take us less time if we followed the highways, but with the lamia taking control of every town we attempt to pass through our route is limited to traveling through the wilderness.
I'm thankful for Artemis's assistance in the past, the silver jacket she gave me acts as a badge of honor and passage safely through the wilds. Nature spirits of all kinds assist us as we travel over the land, slowing down any monsters that attempt to pursue us or outright killing them as the beast falls into a trap.
The Kobalos have disappeared entirely from our radar, likely slinking back off to their caves in the mountains. The goblin Skullfucker must've been more important to their morale then I had previously thought.
He was their champion warrior, potentially even a warrior chieftain or something. According to Allen, Skullfucker has slain a hundred demigods over the years. I'm not sure how old he is exactly, but that's no number to scoff at.
He was a worthy foe despite being a bastard.
We're two days in our travels now, currently resting in our camp as the moon rises into the sky. I'm resting around our fire when something gentle brushes my ear, as if it were a gentle breeze tickling my ear.
"They come from the forests."
A soft, invisible voice spoke in my ear, almost as if it's a mother whispering a gentle lullaby.
A wind Nymph, I deduce.
She doesn't speak again, but I feel an urging in my mind. The unnamed spirit wants to show me something.
I stand up from my log and start slinking off through the brush and towards the edge of a cliff we set up camp on.
Thomas asks where I'm going, but I wave my hand for him to follow. Daisy, Allen and Horse choose to stay behind, likely sensing something mystical is afoot.
My brother and I creep through the small brush, I have a feeling that I should be stealthy in this situation. That danger is nearby but won't bother us unless we make ourselves known to it.
At the edge of the cliff we peer down into the forest below us. Thick spider webs coat the trees beneath us, the slink from tree to tree, covering them in a silk blanket as far as the eye can see.
Dread fills in our guts as well as a healthy dose of phobic fear. Only one race of monsters can do something like this.
Spiders. Not the regular arachnid that nature created; no, the ones who responsible for this come from a much more sinister source.
The spiders of these woods are the true legacy of Arachne. Massive beasts, bigger than a man and more ferocious then most monsters.
Even Artemis is careful to tread through the woods they infest.
A soft breeze flushes against my skin. Gently light forms and swirls into a beautiful young woman that lays in the ground next to us.
Her skin is tanned, yet glows a strange white, her hair is golden blonde, and her eyes are a beautiful sky blue.
She reminds me of a young female Apollo almost. Speaking of which, I still need to finish that special bow he ordered from me.
The young wind Nymph, likely the one who spoke to me earlier, looks down into the forest with sorrow. Her eyes wet with unshed tears.
"This forest was beautiful once. Nymphs and Satyr's danced through these forests with druids of old. Then, from the lair of the lamia, those creatures came. They slew many druids and Satyr's; the tree Nymphs are now too afraid to come out and dance once more."
She turns her sad gaze to me, "Child of Athena, Friend of the Nymphs, I urge you to continue forward and slay the witches of the swamps. Their home is the source of this sickness." She waves her hand at the forest.
"I show you this, so you may fully realize the importance of your quest. Nature is ill, the darkness seeps into our lands. Slay the enemies of nature, and forever onward you and your kin shall be welcomed into our care with open arms."
The Nymph yawns lightly and begins to fade away, speaking a few gentle final words. "Please, go. We…haven't…much…time…"
Then she's gone, I hope that she's returned to the winds she carries. A feeling of sadness fills my belly as I realize that she, potentially, has faded into nothingness.
As the land becomes sick, then so too does her spirits. I send a quick prayer to Artemis, I can only hope that she and her Hunters can kill the spiders and bring the Nymphs back.
Even though I've known her for less than a minute, I pray the wind Nymph we met can return once the forest has been healed.
Shrill cries, like some kind of demonic infant ring from the forest, trees shake and crackle as some unseen battle takes place deep within the woods.
Suddenly a silver arrow imbeds itself into the ground next to us. Sensing the aura from it I know exactly who sent it to us.
Artemis herself, and likely hunting solo as to not draw the attention of her father, heard my prayer and has answered. Thomas and I smile at each other, perhaps thing will be alright in the end.
We've traveled another two days since my run in with the wind nymph. Our goal is only a few days away now, traveling through the wilds has gotten easier as increasing amounts of nature spirits assist us in our endeavor.
Even if I haven't seen her or detected any signs of her presence I know my aunt Artemis has sponsored us in some small way.
Because Zeus has ordered the Hunt to pacify rogue minor gods, the monster population and influence has progressively become worse over the years.
Ever since the favor I did for her with slaying the Drakon mother fought in the gigantomachy I've done my best to uphold her honor as thanks for the gifts she's given me.
Despite Artemis's reputation as a misandrist and unfair punishments, I can't find it in me to truly hate her. Artemis is the epitome of tough love; she doesn't show it, but she does care about demigods outside of her hunt.
Her assistance is subtle, the opposite of the other Olympians. She's been assisting us in small ways since the beginning.
For that, I'll give her honor and spread good things in her name.
I'm unsure what state we've landed ourselves in now. It's day five of our week-long trek, and we've crossed massive patches of farmland for an entire day until the sky turned obsidian and signaled the end of that days travels.
The flat prairie fields yielded to wetland marshes, the air is thankfully cool and not so muggy. I openly thank whichever Nymph's have helped us out by keeping the environment comfortable for us, a small hand rises from the water and gives me a thumbs up before disappearing back into the murky depths.
Our camp is up in less than ten minutes and our party retires for the night in the handy tents Daisy summons. She's getting better, I notice she's become less fatigued from her magic and has even created additional items with little cost to her stamina.
Everyone seems to have become better over the course of our journey, our strengths have maxed while our weaknesses have become less apparent.
If Chiron could see us now he'd be proud; if Steven and William could see me I know they'd be pleased with my improvement.
Because-because of me failing them I've spent as much time as I can be training with my martial skills and practicing stronger and stronger magics.
I refuse to fail my loved ones once again. No one is dying on this stupid quest. I've already created what I've wanted (though at the cost of my eyes, man wearing glasses is annoying) and now all that needs to be done is save Mori, kill Laila and get back home.
Easier said than done.
While everyone was in their tents I chose to wait around the dying fire, sleep is hard to come by for me right now.
The stress of losing Mori, of getting my friends in danger again is eating away at my heart. Every day that turns by my sanity and cool slips just a little. Bags form under my eyes and focusing on thoughts becomes increasingly difficult.
I bury my head in my hands, gods why can't I do anything right!
Someone's hand gently rubs my back, I raise my head and see my brother Thomas sitting on the log next to me.
He gives me a toothy grin and ruffles my hair.
The pit in my gut seems to close just a bit more. Even if he doesn't talk much, or talk any kind of sense when he does, Thomas always seems to silently speak a thousand words with just a few actions.
I feel courage flow through my veins and a feeling of surety washes away my doubt and self-pity.
Thomas believes in me, Daisy, Horse, Allen and Mori do as well. We're in a sticky situation but all of us together can triumph over it all!
My friends are counting on me, I won't let them down. Not this time, and not ever again.
I say my thanks and goodnight to my brother, one more days' worth of travel and we'll be upon my enemy and that much closer to saving the woman I love!
The last days travel went by quickly, even if we had to ride Horse over nasty bogs and swamp land.
The equine complained the entire time much to my annoyance.
"Gah! Laddie why do I have to walk through this muck?! You've perfectly healthy legs, have the snake lady carry me in mah' mini form, she's got the muscles to do it. You've seen her do it before ya' know?"
"Horse, you're a horse. This is literally what you're supposed to be doing, carrying people long distances over nasty terrain. Besides, aren't you a pure-bred fire horse? I figure a breed as special as you could handle this no problem."
He grunts in anger, "Bah ya' fookin smarty pants! Knowing which button to press, why I outa' show you how I handle this mud puddle!"
His desire to prove me wrong actually cut our travel distance by a significant margin. Talking with the local nature spirits I learned that we've entered the swamps the lamia resides in. Our presence is hidden, thanks to the aid of wind nymphs, and our arrival into enemy territory coincides perfectly with the fading daylight.
We strike when the moon is high in the sky. A nighttime raid is a classic but a tried and true strategy for a small ambush party.
The witches are arrogant and undefended. We sneak onto their compound, release the beast horse they have chained, use the panic caused by his freedom to sneak into their mansion and free Mori. From there it's a simple matter of mopping up the remaining hostiles.
A few more hours trot through the swamp and the black sky has all but replaced the sun. Eerie streams of silver moon light fall from the trees all around us; perhaps Artemis and my Mother are watching us, seeing how my assault shall fare against the witches?
A large house emerges from the tree line. It's three stories and looks like a heavily aged Victorian Era mansion. Vines grow down from the high rooves and the once brightly colored paint has faded or chipped off from the muggy swamp climate. The lack of any lights gives the impression of this place being a haunted mansion.
Given that literal witches reside there, it's more than a fair comparison to make.
Thankfully the property grounds of the mansion are treated and well cared for as the muddy swamp dirt slowly thickens and hardens into proper field dirt.
They must be using magic to keep the ground of their compound thick and dry like this.
A few other buildings surround he central house. The barn is easy to identify, the two others not so much. The other building are much smaller, being regular rundown colonial style homes instead of the fancy mansion.
Their purpose is unknown to me. When I had possessed Daisy earlier her memories told me that her sisters live and operate from the mansion, but she doesn't know what the other buildings are for as she was never allowed entry.
Daisy stiffens behind me on Horse's back, I can feel her fear and anticipation with my powers. I'm very familiar with the feeling as I too felt how she did when we merged in my dream.
I crane my body around and look her in the eyes, fear is welling up hard inside of them. Thomas behind her puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, that seems to do the trick as she exhales slowly with her eyes closed.
When they open again determination hardens in her gaze, and I know now that she's truly ready to face her sisters, no fear this time.
I stop Horse a bit before the tree line parts to open terrain, I want to keep him hidden so as to keep our chances of infiltrating high before shit hits the fan.
We all slide quietly off of Horse and stealthily make our way onto the compound.
Not a sound can be heard as we slide like shadows across the lawn, it seems any natural living being choses to stay as far away from this place as possible.
Thomas and Daisy split off and away from me and Allen, they've gone to place Greek fire grenade on the two smaller houses. Daisy has assured me that prisoners are kept in the mansion proper, so destroying the other building would serve to frighten and disorient her sisters.
As Allen and I approach the stables a powerful voice rings in my head.
"So, you've finally made it, took ya' long enough. Hurry up now, I don't want to be wrapped up here any longer. Cut ma' bindings and I'll help ya'll kick the scaly hides of these bitches!"
That demonic cowboy voice is one I don't think I'll ever forget. Whatever kind of horse this thing is is ancient and powerful.
As fearful as I am, the lamia will fear him even more. I need every edge I can get if this fight is to go successfully in our favor.
Allen opens the barn door just enough for us to slip through. He closes it behind us and stands guard, peeking through the small crack to keep an eye out for any kind of enemy sentry.
I quietly slide through the barn, none of the animal pens actually have anything in them. Though a few have scattered piles of bones of varying creatures, some most certainly magic and others more mundane.
It's in the very back end of the barn that I find the beast from my dream. Wrapped up in golden chains that tie his body to the floor I truly stand in the glory of this horse.
Even laying down chained the body of this thing seems as big as an elephant! His fur is a shade of black so dark no light seems to reflect of it, in complete contrast to the flowing mane of luscious golden hair that seems to reflect brightly even in the near total darkened room.
Those volcanic eyes seem to bore into my heart, "Nuff gawkin boy! Hurry up and get me outa' here, my legs have been cramped for decades and I wanna stretch! Just take that there fancy silver dagger O' yours, the moon goddesses magic will counter the witches magic and destroy ma' chains. So get to it!"
I frown at this horse's rudeness, but otherwise comply, I need his help whether I like it or not.
I take the silver dagger Artemis pawned off on me and strike the chains, true to his word the flowing magic in the chains becomes erratic before failing completely as the golden particles dissipates in the air, leaving behind a rusty old steel chain.
The horse laughs a deep bellowing tune as the body slowly begins to rise. The already towering body gains even more height as the metal bindings groan and croak before snapping completely as the sheer strength of this horse breaks them by just standing.
He shakes his body and the loose pieces of chain fall to the ground with a heavy clank!
Those evil eyes of volcano turn to me, "Well I'll be damned! I'm finally free, ooooh you can't even imagine how great it feels to stretch these tired muscles. Now I can finally continue my Path of Discord! It's been decades since I could bring about some true chaos!"
Alarm bells ring in my head. Fuck I was hoping this thing would be nicer or the holy envoy to some god! It just sounds like this guy is totally fucking evil, hopefully he's true to his word and will help with the lamia.
"I've set you free, now will you help me like you've said? The witches have taken someone dear to me and I must get her back!"
The monstrous horse just chuckles, "Poor little colt, too weak to save his woman and goes off to find a real man for help? Boy you halflings are just as pathetic as I remember. I can't believe you actually came and set me free. I've got a future ahead of me and it doesn't involve you."
He rises on his back to feet and lifts his front hooves high and prepares to squash me like I were a cockroach.
"For what it's worth, I do appreciate your help. But this? This is wild nature baby."
Then his hooves stomp down on the ground in front of me and a MASSIVE wave of seismic energy explodes into the very earth around us.
The barn shakes ferociously, and I barely have time to activate my shield and barrier spell before the roof collapses down upon me.
My ears are ringing as consciousness fills my body once again. Everything is dark and extremely warm, and a crushing weight presses down on my chest.
With a heavy grunt and tremendous effort, I push with all my might against whatever is pressing down on top of me.
My strength training pays off and the debris from the roof is pushed away. The scent of smoke fills my nostrils as I blink my bleary eyes.
After a moment my vision sharpens, and I take in the hell-scape around me. Red fire roars to life around me as the swamp trees and buildings burn to a crisp. The very ground seems to be spewing fire as cracked fissures along the earth carry the fire and create terrifying vortexes of angry torrential heat.
I idly note that swamp gas must be producing such an awe inspiring, and terrifying imagery.
A singed log frame pins my legs down, so I start doing my best to push the beam off. Unfortunately, my arms were weakened from freeing my chest a second ago, the wood barely moves from my legs.
Much of the debris around me burns ferociously, but thanks to the jacket Artemis gave me to fight Cacus the fire leaves me cool and completely unaffected.
The sounds of battle and cries of war snap my attention back around me. The lamia have poured from their den and slither about the grounds, hissing shrill cries as they unleash furious green spells against my friends who deflect them and engage the witches in fierce sword and shield combat.
Hacking, slashing and spells sizzling ring in my ears all around me as my friends fight desperately and bravely against these snake women!
I hurriedly attack the log on my legs with all my waning might, pushing as hard as I can against what must be a several thousand-pound support beam.
The ground shakes, like the footsteps of the giant's years ago. I look up and the demon horse I freed peers down at me in disinterest. I feel like an ant beneath him as his majestic nigh divine like form towers over me like an Olympian.
He snorts and steam puffs from his nostrils, "Survived that eh? Guess you aren't as weak as ya' look."
The demon looks out across the fire-stricken battlefield, seeming to rejoice in the carnage of the war between my friends and the lamia.
"Now this is what I'm all about. This calamity and discord, that's why I exist. I march with thunder across the fields and bring my mother's greatest gift to all mankind. Discord, Strife, with just those man changes. Power shifts and society is flipped up on its' head. You see boy, I'm not a monster. I bring about the change man tries to stop."
I follow his gaze across the combat and desolation, "Look around at this act O' man. This here is how the natural order is. People die, things burn; from the ashes something new can be born. Then it starts all over again, and I'm there for every licking moment of it. You've done the world a great boon freeing me, but your time has reached an end, partner. Consider this a mercy, you won't have to see the carnage or blame yourself because you'll be squatting down with ya' pals in the Elysium fields."
My eyes stare in hate at this demon. I can't be beaten now, I refuse! My friends are in danger and I need to save them.
I raise a shaking around to cast a spell, fireball, astral arrow, ray of frost, ANYTHING!
…But no magic flies from my hand. I'm too exhausted, so I drop my arm and go limp. Reality crushes on my shoulders, is this really the end? Am I truly going to fail my friends once again? It seems so.
The demon gazes lazily at me.
"Finally given up and accepted your fate have ya'? Bout time, fool. Gods what a pity of a sight, the lone hero brought low in front of his friends. It's to be expected, I'm the Horse of Discord. No point in gloating now, I've got places to be now. Don't worry that pretty little head of yours, I promise I won't miss this time."
He raises his body in the air and aims to stomp down at me once again, this time likely to make do on his promise not to miss.
I close my eyes and do the best I can to accept my fate. Calmness washes over me and strangely I feel an odd presence within my body. It almost feels like… mother?
The overwhelming desire to open my eyes commands my body to obey. Doing so I see the black demon coming down towards me in slow motion.
Time crawls at a snail speed as my death approaches impossibly slow. Then, as if someone flipped a lever, time speeds up to normal and something heavy and massive slams into the demon and knocks it back a dozen feet.
The log on my legs is thrown away by the impact and I finally comprehend my savior.
Horse stands before me and the demon, he neighs in triumph and glory as fire belches from his mouth.
"Hands off me handler ya' filthy old horse! No one's harmin' this'in when I'm around!"
The demon growls in annoyance, "Now wot in tarnation are you doing?! You're a monster horse, same as I. We should be on the same team! Leave that filthy halfblood behind and join me! Together we could bring about such glorious Discord; you'd be happy and free from everything they tried to make you be!"
Horse snorts distastefully, "Oh quit your jabberin' I'm more than happy to have me handler. I don't care about no chaos because muh' boy's all I need ya' see? Who cares what I was bred for, I do what I do well. I'm happy with the path before me, can you say the same?!"
The midnight horse roars in fury, "You shut your trap colt! Why is it that you get a handler and I don't?! I've been around for a thousand years, not one Child of Discord has come for me! It's not fair, I have to ride alone while everyone else gets their wish come true?! I've had it up to here! If I can't have what I want, then I'll make damn sure no one else gets their happy endings!"
With a feral roar Horse and the demon collide, their battle shaking the very earth.
"Go laddie, I'll handle this buffoon! Go save the girl mate!"
I nod at my horse and for a split second something shimmers in his eye before the harden in focus.
Standing I turn away from the crashing equine and make my way through the war zone and towards the thankfully unburning mansion.
Lamia hiss as I pass them but a quick slash across their chests deters them from following me.
Thirty yards from the mansion a lone lamia attempts to stop me, only to be met with a javelin in her heart. Death is instant, and I race to the pile and scoop up the weapon.
I turn and throw it back to Allen who catches it midair and carries the trajectory straight into a witches skull.
As much as it pains me to run away from the fight this is part of the plan. I must save Mori, my friends can handle things outside, I believe in them.
I rip open the door and continue my path into the main hall of the mansion, the entire building shakes as the demon's powerful muscles make the very earth tremble under his might.
Ignoring my thoughts of awe, I start racing around the halls of the mansion, almost everyone has their jails in the basement.
After a few minutes of searching I think I find what I'm looking for. A stray door within the kitchen gives me the impression of a basement entrance.
Tearing it open I make my way deep into the darkness. Light fades quickly so I cast an illumination spell that manifests as a hovering orb of light that follows over my shoulder.
The dark stair case soon makes way for a deep and dark chasm beneath the foundation. An overwhelming feeling of dread fills my heart as I peer down into the deep void. It must travel down several hundred feet, my light spell only showing me at the most twenty before the crawling darkness eats the light like a void.
Something rattles and slides in the pit, and an echoing hiss flows upwards. Whatever is down there must be massive, massive and ancient.
I quickly turn around and continue my trek back up the stairs, whatever down there is not Mori, it felt even more ancient and evil than the demon horse outside.
My heart pounds as I burst back into the kitchen and slam the door shut behind me. I take a moment to catch my breath, that thing in the void practically ate my courage just being near me.
Whatever it is I don't care, we need to get out of here soon before it breaks free from the constant shaking of the ground.
I make my way into the upper levels of the mansion; the ground floor lacks any signs of a jail cell. As I pass through a side door on the second level, something seems to beckon me. I stop and look at the door I passed, opening it I'm met with a magnificent sight.
Treasure; gold, jewels and weapons of all kind sparkle from the flight amount of moon light peeking in through the window.
I ignore the trivial things, they aren't what called me into this room. I move a massive pile of gold and unveil a silver stick of some kind buried half deep.
Removing more gold, I realize what this truly is, the bow of a Hunter of Artemis. I shake my head in pity at the thought of what must've happened to the poor girl who owned this originally. The lamia must've killed her or tortured her to get this from her hands.
I take the weapon in my hands and gentle words seem to breeze into my brain.
Luminous, bow of Abigail the gentle, whom loved all.
Small tears drip from my eyes, but I know they aren't mine. Artemis channeled through me to tell me about this bow and her sadness lingered behind for just a moment.
The bow glows and turns into a magical snake of silver light that worms under my jacket and wraps around my arm.
My skin tickles and singes for a moment, but the pain passes in less than a second. I roll my sleeve up and see the light burned itself into my arm and left behind a simple but elegant tattoo.
In beautiful line art, the tattoo reveals a young woman with light hair and a flowing chiton aiming her bow across my forearm, as if her unseen arrows lead across my arm and ends at my fingers.
I rub my fingers gently across the marking, I send a prayer of thanks to the goddess of the moon for yet another gift. I will appreciate her symbol and wield the magic bow in honor of her fallen hunter.
Suddenly something wraps around my waist and squeezes hard. The air is compressed from my lungs as my body is thrown about the room, into the walls and ceiling as whatever is holding me holds me slams me around repeatedly.
Suddenly I'm jerked back and carried into the hallway, slamming into the walls as I now see that the tail of a lamia squeezes my arms to my sides, preventing me from reacting in defense.
My head slams hard into the wall and darkness quickly over takes me, the last thing I see is the leering emerald eyes of Laila as she flips me her middle finger and grins cheekily.
Man… what… a… bitch…
Then everything goes black.
I wake with a choking gasp; my body aches and whines as unseen bruises likely litter my body.
Gods, Laila must've beaten me up or something when I was out.
My vision is blurred, and I realize my glasses have been knocked off. I feel around on the ground and my fingers brush against something small.
Feeling them some more I sigh in relief and put my glasses back on. My vision clears and HOLY SHIT.
I look around my environment and spin in confusion as the very world seems to have been broken and slapped back together by a twelve-year-old.
The ground warbles and twists before suddenly jutting around at perfect mathematical angles. I'm in some kind of warped field, trees and brush is scattered about that follows the spiraled ground before cutting off, I look in the sky and see massive islands of dirt that float around aimlessly in the midnight blue sky.
Shrill crackling fills my ears, it sounds like someone's repeatedly cracking a mirror eternally with no rest. The shattering sounds get louder and louder, then through the twisting ground, dozens of… things appear.
At a glance they look like piles of moving glass in vaguely recognizable forms. He shard crawl and crackle as they flow almost fluidly around the mass they create.
One of them groans and several shards suddenly fly out at my, instinctively my shield form on my arm and the barrier spell protects me from the projectiles.
I rub my finger and will my cutlass to appear, only it doesn't. I look at my finger and see my ring is gone! I feel around my belt and sure enough my silver dagger is missing as well.
Feeling my chest and horror passes through me, my amulet is gone. Without it I have no magic, I only have Juggernaut and my shield.
Something ticks in my mind and I suddenly remember, Juggernaut has those magic flowers Rhea wove into it.
I pick a green flower off my jack and toss it at the amassing horde. It puffs on the ground getly and nothing happens. Before I can even voice my complaint, the flower explodes into a mass of thick and waving thorny vines.
They tentacle like vines whip around slap through the glass things, knocking the shards loose and sending them spiraling in all directions.
I cheer a little before my eyes widen, the loose glass crawls through the grass and forms their previous shapes once again.
En masse the horde starts ripping into the vines, tearing it to tiny shreds until an unrecognizable plant matter pile is left.
I curse and start running to the edge of the floating island, the ground banks sharply to the right and as I follow the warped ground my feet stay firmly attached, gravity seems to follow whatever is 'down', so the warped floor can be run on no matter what angle it goes to.
I reach the edge of the floating island and peer down at the strangely colored sky that fills this world. I'm reminded of a Van Gogh painting as the colorful sky seems unreal, as if it were painted.
Another island floats some thirty odd feet away from the edge. I curse at my predicament; the glass horde is shuffling after me and I can't make this jump!
Grabbing another green flower from my jacket I send a quick prayer to Rhea, gods I hope this works! I toss the flower like a frisbee, it spins across the way and hits the dirt edge of the neighboring island. For a second nothing happens, the mass of vines grows rapidly from the edge and worms its way through the air and connects to my island like a bridge.
After a few seconds enough vines have grown to make a sturdy walkway. I hurriedly cross the natural bridge and make my way onto the next island.
The horde behind me starts crossing the vines, a few launching stray glass projectiles at me. I scowl as I block them with my shield. Looking down I search for a particular flower I remember using a while ago.
Grabbing the red flower, I pick it off and chuck it into the center most part of the bridge. It explodes in contact like a grenade and destroys the vines, causing most of the horde to plummet into the beautiful void below.
I turn around and run into the forest that covers this floating island. After a few minutes I stop and start panting, my lungs and body aches in agony from everything that's happened over the last hour.
Something cracks in the brush next to me, I spin around and to my surprise find myself holding the bow Artemis turned into a tattoo on my arm.
My bow lowers as a familiar voice like a melody rings into my ears.
"Samson?"
Mori emerges from the bushes looking worse for wear, her clothes are in tatters and shallow cuts mark all along her body.
Thin red lines coat her arms and face, but her beautiful emerald eyes shine in joy and relief. My bow dissipates back into my arm and I race forward and embrace my beautiful lover.
Our arms wrap tightly around each other as we hold our bodies close, the contact between us makes any sense of worry vanish.
We're back together, everything will be okay now.
Mori leans away but I hold her waist close to me own, "I-I can't believe you're here! Gods I'm so happy you came for me; this place is wrong."
She looks around at the strange landscape around us, "I've never felt anything like this! This feels like a different world, yet not at the same time. I think we're trapped in some sort of illusion spell but knowing these bitches any harm here is also harming our real bodies."
Mori leans forward and rests her head on my chest and mumbles into my shirt.
"I've been here for days. Gods I'm so sore, these glass things have been following me around forever. I haven't had a lick of proper sleep since I've gotten here. Please tell me you've got a plan."
I rest my chin on her head, her messy hair tickling me as I embrace her tightly.
"I, have no idea."
She just groans, "Whelp, guess we'll have to come up with something."
We spent several hours relaxing in a meadow we found, thankfully none of the glass things came for us so we rested our tired bodies and fell asleep next to one another.
When we woke again we told each other what we've been up to in our time away from one another. She was enamored with my tale of our groups adventure across the country. Of the various Nymph's that helped us and the stray monsters that followed us.
She was particularly happy with how I dispatched Skullfucker, no doubt pleased that the goblin that defeated her met a terrible and humiliating end.
Mori then told me of her time in this strange world; of the winding islands that twist and bend like warped reality, and of the strange monsters that inhabit this strange painted world.
"I think these glass things are the result of some form of crack in reality, these things are the imperfect mirrored forms of monsters from the real world. Throwing us into this illusion world dragged along poor copies of the real thing, if you pay close enough attention you can see the mirror monsters vaguely look like real creatures."
Now that I think back on it I can see what she means. A few of the glass things looked vaguely like empousa or giants.
Mori sighs and twiddles her thumbs, "Samson? I think I've found out something important. Something big."
I raise an eyebrow at her, "What is it then?"
She sighs despondently.
"I think- I think Max's father is a Gargarean, worse yet he's their king."
Um, what?
"How the Hades did you come to that conclusion? This world is just empty nature and glass monsters."
"That's just it! A few days ago, I was attacked by a lone monster. This one was unique because it was much more lifelike than the other abstract creatures. This one looked just like Kolbe, but he wore Greek armor with a symbol on his chest. Two swords and a shield, Samson, that's the crest of the Gargarean king!"
It takes me a moment to process.
"…Then what should we do? I know Max, he has no clue about that kind of stuff. We're the ones who introduced him to the hidden world of demigods. Why would Kolbe not train him as a warrior then, why encourage his son to be a lawyer?"
She shakes her head, "I just- don't know. I don't think we should tell him, Max has a mostly normal life with Eris now. Let's just let them be happy, this stuff is already complicated, if Kolbe returns from war and starts something then he has to deal with us and Eris as well!"
I nod my head in agreement, Max is our friend and we'll always have his back!
Mori and I lay down on the grass and she rests her head on my chest as I idly stroke her waist with my thumb.
She sighs happily and melts into me, I smile and close my eyes. It's good to be back with one another, our time apart was killing me.
Suddenly Mori whips around and straddles me and starts opening my jacket hurriedly.
"W-whoa babe! I get you missed me but are you sure you want to shag in the dirt?!"
She scoffs and rolls her eyes, "No you horny boy, I just thought of how to get us out of here!"
Mori reaches into my opened coat and pulls out a pair of circle frame sunglasses that are made of gold metal that glows just faintly.
Oculus.
My eyes widen in realization, I know what she's planning!
"You said these things can 'see the absolute truth'? If this is an illusion world then that means Oculus can break the spell! Quick, put them on!"
Before I can say anything, she shoves the glasses onto my face. At first nothing happens, then suddenly a loud sound like thunder rips through the air.
We stand and look into the sky and see what looks like a long crack in the sky, white light faintly seeping from it.
Then thunder rings again as another crack form, then another and another!
The very sky is cracked like a broken mirror and spreading. The ground beneath us shakes and a quiet screaming like sound pours from the cracks in reality.
Then, like an explosion, the cracked sky erupts into blinding white light. We cover our eyes as the light overtakes the entire world.
When we open them again Mori and I are standing in a large and dark room. I recognize this place instantly as being the lamia's mansion.
Something groans in the corner of the room. We look over and see Laila whining as she grips her head. I put Oculus back in my jacket and examine my body. My weapons have returned to their rightful places.
Mori and I march over to the weakened lamia, she groans weakly as we stand over her.
"Ugh, why do you demigods have to be so clever? No one's broken out of that spell before, you were supposed to die!"
I nod at Mori. She snaps her fingers and Laila's body is forced into leaning against the wall.
Laila coughs and struggles, but breaking her spell must've taken a large toll on her mana and stamina.
She's completely helpless.
"So, we doing any kind of speech? Your kind always has the last say and I'm but a helpless maiden. You should've feared me, I've killed many Children of Athena over the decades."
I glare at her in response.
"Why should I fear you? I killed ones close to me and here I still stand. You can kill your family and stay the same. I kill mine and become stronger and MUCH more furious than you. No, you should be afraid of ME!"
Mori tires to placate me, but I ignore it. My brothers are dead, and It's my fault. I'm the one who killed them.
Laila senses my troubled emotions and licks her lips as her half-lidded eyes seductively drink my body up. She rubs her thighs and tries to act coy, speaking softly like she's an innocent girl.
"Will you take me then? Isn't that what you boys always do, take the maiden to her bed and spin her world around? Why don't we have a go at each other, I'm sure all parties would enjoy our little coupling."
Her words are honey, but I can tell what she's trying to do. Charmspeach is a powerful ability, but Mori and I are stronger. Her words have no effect.
"Why not do it here? It's an empty room, nice and clean. I'm sure the big strong man would like to have two beautiful women servicing his every desire. So how about you let me go and get to the down and dirty, eh?"
My silver bow shimmers to life in my hands. I pull the string back and an arrow shimmers into existence as I aim right for Laila's heart.
Her eyes widen in fear and tears stream down her cheeks. Her mouth is closed tight, and she quakes silently as death stares down at her.
It looks like she's finally accepted the inevitable.
She is right about one thing though, now is an excellent time for a speech.
"Laila, your desire for control has spread darkness all around this country. Your spiders attack the wilds and drive nature sprits away. Your lust for domination has led to the ruin of hundreds of lives. You've kidnapped my friend and endangered others; in the name of my Mother and Lady Artemis, I will kill you here today."
My eyes harden as my frustration from finally hits me like a truck. Tears trickle from my eyes as I stare down at my true enemy of this quest.
"This is for Abigail, my friend Daisy, and all other demigods you've killed over the years. I hope you rot in Tartarus."
Then I loose my arrow, and it finds its' place in her shriveled heart.
Laila gasps from the impact, blood pools out of her wound as she limply grabs the arrow in her heart.
She shakily looks at us one last time and raises a middle finger at me and grins.
"Have… fun…with… Kampe."
Her head drops, and she goes limp. Her body slowly turns to golden dust that piles on the floor. I look down at her remains, a feeling of melancholy hits me.
Is this real? Is she actually dead?
Mori puts a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Babe, let's get out of here."
We turn around, Mori guides me through the mansion and back to our friends. I'm still dazed from this entire ordeal, the stress and adrenaline have taken its toll, but it's all over now.
We won.
We're back outside and discover our friends stand triumphant over piles and piles of monster dust. Horse tells me that the strange demon ran off after my friends worked together and drove him away. From there it was easy to finish off the surviving witches.
We all embrace in one big group hug, we've done it! We beat the witches, and by extension we've ended their dark magic that's been poisoning nature.
Horse lights the mansion ablaze and we all sit back and watch as it starts burning to the ground.
I lean against Mori and rest my eyes, Gods how I wish we were back in camp. Allen speaks up next to us and asks Mori, "Hey, Mori? Why did the witches kidnap you anyways?"
"Oh, they wanted to try and force me to bend the minds of some strong monsters they captured. They thought I could control powerful beasts for them. Too bad witchcraft isn't my specialty. I'm a black mage, I fight, not control."
"Huh, what monsters did they have then?"
"That giant horse in the stables was one. There was one more, but I never saw it. They said she's chained up in the basement, a summoning gone wrong I think."
Wait… hold the fuck up. What did Laila say earlier? Have fun with Kampe? 'SHE'S CHAINED UP IN THE BASEMENT?
I'm up in an instant.
"GUYS! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! IT'S KAMPE IN THE BASEMENT, WE HAVE TO LEAVE NOW!"
Mori's eyes widen in fear and the rest of my party looks unsure.
"Um, are you sure Samson? Kampe's been missing for millennia, there's no way the lamia summoned and trapped her."
The roof of the burning mansion suddenly explodes as a massive black shadow flies through it. Debris rains down everywhere as the shrill cry of an ancient beast tears into our hearts.
The shadow encircles the compound before landing with a heavy thud on the burning roof of the mansion. She flaps her wings once and powerful gusts of wind blow us back and extinguish the fires entirely.
She shrieks a loud and shrill cry, terror claws its way into my mind as her evil serpentine eyes glare down upon us.
The clouds covering the moon part, and the newly freed light reveals the terrifying form of Kampe.
She's almost like a draconic centaur, she has the upper body of a woman covered in scales and the lower half of a dragon with a long and spindling scorpions tail. Her scalp is covered in snakes, just like Medusa, and the large wings of a dragon sprout from her back.
I can barely stand in her presence, the fear she radiates buckles my legs and soon I crash onto the floor.
Is this it? This is how we go, killed by Kampe right after we thought we had one? I guess this is how all demigods meet their end, killed when they celebrate their victory. Lives cut short by a more powerful monster then they should have ever encountered.
Something crosses into my vision, it's hard to move my gaze away from Kampe, but I do. My eyes meet that of my brothers. His filled with determination, mine with fear.
He extends a hand down at me, the moon behind him makes him seem almost like a god, like a savior. I steel my courage and take his hand, I don't know what I was thinking. Kampe is strong, but we can beat her!
With all of my friends together we will succeed! No evil dragon woman is taking our moment away from us. This is our time, our glory.
Thomas pulls me to my feet and pats me on the back. My companions gather their weapons and together we face down Kampe, no fear is within us as the beast scowls in annoyance.
Then, like a train, she jumps from the roof and slams into the ground hard. The shockwave sends us tumbling but we handle it well and engage the great jailor.
Sword, Spell, Javelin and knives ring into the hide of the massive monster. Her body is large, like several elephants pressed together and molded into a being of nightmare. Horrifying faces bubble across her skin and yowl and scream at us.
We just stab the eye holes in response.
Our attacks don't even faze Kampe, our weapons just bounce off her hide or leave a slight scratch on her scales.
Kampe smirks at our ineffective attack but doesn't otherwise react. She's clearly enjoying our vain attempts at injuring her.
Her scorpion tail flings to life and whips us all back several yards. We collide hard into the dirt and debris. Thomas is the first one back to his feet flurries his twin daggers all around Kampe's body, probing for a weakness.
She rolls her eyes and kicks Thomas to the ground. She puts a dragon paw on his chest and starts pressing down slowly, her eyes sparkle in delight as she squeezes the life from my brother.
I roar in rage and summon my Hunter's Bow. Silver light encompasses my body like an aura, power and strength rush through my body as I aim the bow at Kampe's side.
The arrow the bow creates glows with power, and when I release it the arrow manages to pierce Kampe's hide just a little. Only the arrow head wedges into her soft flesh beneath her skin, but that's all I can ask for in this moment.
She turns and glares at me, hate pooling from her eyes as noxious black blood seeps from the wound. She knows that at least one of us can hurt her now.
With a roar she charges me, only to scamper back as white-hot flames coat her body. Horse neighs in defiance and charges Kampe, my friends follow suit. We rally with new confidence knowing that Kampe isn't totally invincible.
Our charge is met with a flurried attack of rage. Kampe lashes out with her tail and slashes with her claws. We're blown back and broken by just a few hits.
Kampe leers down at our damaged bodies, Thomas groans weakly on the floor and Allen's immaculate bronze armor suit is dented and scratched, he's even missing a few pieces.
Daisy was thrown back and lays limply across a destroyed section of house, her tail twitches every so often and she limply grasps onto the air. Mori groans through gritted teeth and clutches her leg, no doubt broken from being whipped by Kampe's tail. Horse neighs weakly as he tries and fails to rise back to his hooves.
I cough and blood spits out onto the ground. I was punched once by her and I'm pretty certain she broke most of my ribs if the pain I'm feeling is anything to go on. Even with the temporary blessing that I'm pretty certain Artemis gave me it still isn't enough.
She's just too strong.
Thomas cries out and stands on shaky feet. He grins like a maniac and does a halfhearted come-hither gesture at Kampe. She grins and stomps over towards Thomas. Being the crazy man he is, Thomas pulls out a candy bar from his pocket and eats it slowly as he grins at Kampe.
Fury flashes across her face for a second before a relaxed smirk crosses her face. She reaches down and grabs Thomas. Lifting him in the air, their faces meet in equally psychopathic grins.
Horror fills my belly and I almost hurl when her jaw unhinges and extends impossibly wide and swallows Thomas whole.
I cover my mouth and tears spill from my eyes, gods no please! Please don't take another brother away from me!
Sobs wrack through my body as I slam a fist into the ground. I've failed my brothers, again.
A shadow covers my body. I look up and see Kampe leering down at me, reveling in my agony as tears cascade down my cheeks.
All I feel is numb now as, like Laila, death looms over me.
A clawed hand reaches down and cups my chin gently. She lifts my head up and exposes my neck, her clawed finger traces my trachea and my jugulars.
Suddenly I feel the point of her nail poke into my skin. Guess she's going to slit my throat, what a way to die.
I close my eyes and silently pray to my brothers for forgiveness. I couldn't even make it to twenty.
Kampe suddenly cries out in shock and pain. The side of her boy starts writhing and rippling like something inside of her body is alive and clawing its way out.
Wait… Thomas you are a fucking maniac!
A knife stabs out from her belly and starts dragging down her hide. She cries and bellows in agony and starts clawing into her exposed organs, attempting to pull out the man-sized parasite that's cutting her body up from the inside.
We all cheer weakly as Thomas cuts himself free and plops to the ground like a fish out of water. He gasps and smiles at his actions, no doubt excited from doing some of the wildest shit I've ever seen.
Our victory is short lived as Kampe's stinger drives itself into his chest. He gasps as the appendage tears through every layer of his body and stabs into the ground beneath him.
Kampe removes her tail and blasts into the air with her wings, sobbing shrilly as she disappears over the tree line and out of sight.
I scramble over to my brother, ignoring the pain of my broken body as I hold my dying brother close. Tears spill down my face as I hold him close, his poisoned blood gushes out sickly from his wound and coats my chest.
Thomas reaches a shaking hand up and cups my cheek. His weak eyes meet mine, and somehow he still has mirth in them.
It's inevitable, his death. I can't save him now, no amount of ambrosia or magic can. All I can do is hold him tight as he passes over into Hades domain.
Watching the life fade from his eyes is something I'll never forget, even if I want to. His arm drops down and his body goes limp in my arms.
I close my eyes touch his cold forehead to mine as I sob in softly. I can feel my friends gather around me and place gentle hands upon my back.
I can't bring my head up to meet their eyes, the pain of it all is too much. I just can't face the people I've endangered, the people I've failed.
Once again, I've killed my brother.