The elevator encompassed total silence.
Horace and Cassandra stood hand-in-hand and shoulder-to-shoulder, eyes trained mindlessly on the door in front of them. Erak stood off to the side, eyes closed and face blank. Alone from the rest, back turned and gaze fixed on shaking hands, stood Alyss.
All of her wounds demanded attention. Many of them were bad: a deep Temujai slice on her left shoulder, a swelling bruise on her head, a long swathe of burned flesh covering her thighs. Yet only one garnered her attention. There, on her right hand, on her thumb, her nail bled.
It was the smallest of her wounds by area, by pain, and by blood. Compared to the rest, it should have been insignificant. She was in no danger of bleeding out from it, no danger of blood poisoning or shock or infection. Yet she could not wrench her eyes from it. When she had torn out of Erak's hold, fighting her way towards Will, that nail had caught in one of the crevices of Erak's armor. When she had ripped it out, some had stayed behind.
It wasn't the whole nail. Scarcely half of it was missing, a misshapen arc that resembled a crescent moon going from left to right. But the wound ran deep and Alyss could tell it would never grow back. She would live the rest of her life without it.
Par for the course, given Alyss' life as a demigod. Just as she had more and worse wounds, she had more and larger scars. But still she could not stop looking at it.
The elevator stopped. Alyss' ears rang in the silence. Then with a gentle, pleasant ding, the doors opened and Horace and Cassandra left.
"After you, lass," Erak said quietly.
Alyss looked out the doors. The Skandians were milling about, waiting for them expectantly. They had clearly been successful in fighting off the monsters, but many would be injured, and all would be in need of leaders. There was still a war to be won. There was still a sacrifice to protect - whoever that was - to prevent Gaia and Morgarath from getting. The war would not wait for Alyss.
The war would not stop for the dead.
Alyss nodded at Erak and pulled on a carefully wrought mask of impassivity - what her mentor, Lady Pauline, had taught her. Then she stepped out of the elevator.
She stepped into a massive, expansive cavern filled to the brim with ruins. Half-burned buildings littered the ground; broken stone columns were strewn about like bones. A low, stale breeze filled the otherwise oppressive air, rifling through piles of monster dust as it went. Alyss couldn't help but think that this place was very little better than Tartarus.
She was aware of how the Skandians' gazes went behind her to the elevator, their expression puzzled. She was aware of how they looked from her to Cassandra to Horace, then back to the empty elevator. She was aware of when they searched the rest of the cavern with swift glances. And she was aware - oh so aware - of the moment they stopped looking.
"You must be careful to control your breathing," Lady Pauline had told her. "We are physical creatures, my dear. Uneven breathing is a signal to the brain that things are not alright, and it will begin to panic. To remain calm in stressful situations, you must fool everyone - even yourself."
Alyss took a slow, steady breath for four counts. Held it four counts. Exhaled four counts.
"What's the situation?" she asked Erak.
Turning from the men he'd been talking to, his face showed his surprise before he masked it. "Not bad. This place is called the House of Hades. It's in Greece, which isn't great, given how you were saying the main battle is in America. But my men say that they interrogated some of the monsters before killing them. This is one of their main bases. If we can take it out..."
"It'll be a massive victory," Alyss finished thoughtfully. She turned to the men Erak had been speaking with. "Do you have any intel on their forces?"
"Yes ma'am," one of them replied, a man named Svengal. He had been in one of the last groups to leave, she remembered, and he was Erak's second-in-command. "The Temujai, as some of the strongest and most intelligent monsters out there, are in charge and make up the main body of their force. We believe there are some minorities of other monsters as well, though."
"Numbers?"
"We're not sure. Definitely less than we just fought, though." Svengal turned to the elevator and spat in its direction. "Any fight out here'll be better than in there."
"What's the status of the men?" Erak asked. "What are the casualties?"
"Quite low," Svengal responded. "Everyone has some form of injury, but most aren't serious. We've only counted a few dozen dusted. We were quite lucky."
Right as he said that, he did a double-take and looked at Alyss with pity in his eyes. She gritted her teeth.
"Erak," she said, "Let's have the injured rest here. In the meantime, we need to scout this place."
Erak nodded. "Good plan, lass. Svengal, tell the men we'll spend the night here. Work out guard shifts, set up stations for the injured, all that needs to be done."
"I can help," Cassandra volunteered from Alyss' right. "I have some experience dressing wounds."
Alyss shook her head before Cassandra had finished speaking. "No, Cassandra. I need you with me to scout out this place. Horace will help instead."
"Why can't I come with you?" Horace asked, frowning.
"You're not the most subtle person here."
Really, Horace was about as subtle and quiet as a raging rhino, but she didn't think it'd be tactful to say. Horace seemed to be thinking it, though, because he agreed and went off with Svengal to help. Alyss stood still for a moment, trying to gather herself, but she was distracted by a conversation just within earshot.
"Have you seen that other demigod?" a Skandian was asking another.
"You mean the archer boy? No, I haven't seen him at all."
"That's odd - wasn't he one of the Jarl's friends? Wasn't he coming out with us?"
"He was," the other responded, but hesitated. "He was in the last group to come up, I remember. Maybe he didn't..."
Alyss took a sharp breath and turned away and wished she could shut them up. Beside her, she felt the presence of Cassandra sidling up to her, probably to comfort her or talk to her. Alyss turned from that as well, moving to catch Erak's attention instead. He had begun to head off, presumably to deal with other issues, but Alyss stopped him with a quick address.
"Yes, lass?" Erak asked, turning back to her.
"We'll be going now," she said.
"Alright," said Erak.
"And please," she added, unable to stop the rising edge in her voice, "quiet your men's gossip."
Erak's eyes flicked over to the two Skandians who were still talking, albeit much quieter. "Of course, lass. Be safe now."
"Always am."
With a quick glance at Cassandra to follow her, Alyss stepped off into the rest of the cavern.
Their scouting expedition was, thank God, uneventful. Alyss didn't think she could've handled anything else going wrong. Cassandra used her Mist a few times to distract or warn off some wandering monsters, but for the most part they were free flying.
Once they had gathered the information, Alyss went back to inform Erak of everything they had found. They quickly formed a plan against the monster camp, courtesy of Alyss, and executed it almost perfectly. It was successful for the most part: they were able to take the Temujai base over with only two Skandians dying and a few dozen injuries. Alyss had instructed them to leave at least a few of the monsters - preferably the Temujai - alive, and as the battle finished, she was pleased to see three captured Temujai being dragged towards her, their awful, twisted arms held forcibly back by the strongest of the Skandians.
"Erak," she called, not wanting to interrogate the hostages alone. He came over quickly, Cassandra and Horace following close behind.
"Alright," she started, once the three Temujai had been pulled to a stop in front of them and her friends, along with Svengal and a couple of Erak's men, had joined her. "What do you know about the second sacrifice needed to awaken Gaia and Morgarath?"
As though part of a monster choir, all three of the Temujai snarled at her in unison. Alyss almost snarled right back, her grip tightening dangerously around her dagger. Will's last -
Will's last -
Will's request. Will's request to her. He had asked her to, begged her to find this sacrifice. She would not let these monsters get in her way.
Alyss pressed the tip of her dagger right under one of the Temujai's eyes. Its snarling halted instantly, and she could not ignore the satisfaction she felt from that.
"What I asked was not optional. You will answer. Or you will be rendered unable to answer. Slowly, systematically, and brutally painfully." Alyss pressed the dagger in harder. "Do not get me wrong: you will die either way. The only difference is in how long it will take."
It tried to struggle, to break away from her, but the Skandians holding it held firm. She dug the dagger further into its hard flesh, hard enough that drops of black blood began trailing down from where the dagger's point rested.
"You should be grateful for your life, you know. Not all of us get to come back when we die. When we die... we die for good."
The Temujai growled at her, inhuman eyes dark and angry. "I won't tell you anything, half-blood. You'll have to kill me first."
Alyss looked at it for a long moment. She remembered, so long ago, back when she'd first interrogated one of their kind. On the way to find Will, she and Horace and Cassandra had captured and taken a Tem'uj hostage. She'd threatened to torture it, much to Horace and Cassandra's dismay. After it had given the intel, no torture needed, the two demigods had confronted her, asking if she would have actually tortured the monster, had it refused to give them what they needed. She'd said no, that she'd been bluffing. Back then, she'd been telling the truth.
If they asked her the same thing now... how would she respond?
Alyss withdrew her blade. The next second, she plunged it into the creature's heart. It crumbled to dust around her. Without pausing, she turned to the Skandians holding back their second hostage.
"Next."
This one was afraid now, having seen her so easily kill its fellow, but still maintained a brave face. Like its fellow, it refused to talk. Alyss killed it as well.
"Next."
Now this one was terrified. Temujai - and monsters in general - did not give off the same fear signals as humans, but she could still tell easily enough from its altered breathing, the way it bared its teeth at her, the too-direct glare it gave her straight in the eyes. It was overcompensating, an injured deer snarling at a lion.
"Same deal as with the last two," Alyss said, tone still calm and even. "But this time I mean it. No more chances left. You talk, you die quickly. You don't, you die slowly. Which will it be?"
The monster went to speak, but before it could, she cut it off.
"And don't think that I'll be any more lenient just because you're the last hostage. In fact, I was already lenient with the last two in letting them die so quickly. My leniency has run out for you. Talking is, really, your best option."
"Fine," the Tem'uj spat, already more than she'd gotten from the two others. "What do you want to know?"
Alyss considered, weighing the options and deciding which questions to ask when. "What do you know of Morgarath and Gaia's plans? Where will they be, what are they trying to accomplish?"
The Tem'uj gave an ugly, gurgling noise that gave Alyss the same disgust as a stomach ulcer. "That should be obvious. They - we - want this world for ourselves. We're tired of being confined to the dark, to the desolate and undesirable places. We want to live like you do. Why is that so wrong?"
"You expect us to believe that, after all our history together, after all the times you've killed our best heroes and razed our towns, that you could ever be trusted to live among us?"
The monster gave that gurgling noise again, and Alyss realized it was a laugh. "I never said we wanted to live with you, just like you. We are not afraid to kill to get our way. After all, like you said... you don't get a second life."
It cried out before Alyss even realized what she was doing. One moment she was listening to it mock her - the next, there was dark blood on her knife and a deep, vicious line crossing its torso.
"Answer the questions."
Clearly unwilling, yet just as clearly unwilling to endure more pain, it continued. "Our Father and Mother are going to move on Olympus shortly. They want to overturn the thrones, claim them for themselves."
Alyss drew back her knife again. "I could've figured that out myself."
"Alright, alright," it said, a little quicker than usual. "They also want to take over the Underworld - Hades' side of it. I don't know where that is - that wasn't my mission - but they're probably going to wage a battle on it soon, if they haven't already."
"Will either of them be on the battlefield?"
The Tem'uj hesitated, not wanting to spill important information, but when Alyss lowered the knife again, it started talking once more. "I don't think so. The Earth Mother is gathering her strength, waiting for the right time. And our Father... he has only just begun to truly awaken."
Alyss' knuckles tightened around the dagger. It was an effort to keep calm as she asked her final question. "And the second sacrifice to fully awaken him? Who is that?"
The Tem'uj sneered at her. "There is no death you could give me that could possibly be worse than what our Father will do to me if he finds out I told you that."
Alyss gritted her teeth. "Are you sure about that?"
The Tem'uj smiled nastily. "Why don't you try?"
For a long moment, Alyss' arm itched to sink the knife deep into its hard flesh, to hear it scream, to watch it flail in agony. Her hand yearned to cause even a fraction of pain to something, someone other than herself. And this was Will's request, Will's final...
She had to get it. She had to know. Both for the war... and for herself.
Her hand reared back and she set her jaw. She stared deep into the monster's cruel, soulless eyes, picturing how it would feel to finally see them broken, to finally have it spew everything she needed to know, to finally, finally have something she could control. The knife glinted as it raced towards the monster-
And sank deep into its heart, killing it instantly.
As it turned to dust, smug even in death, Alyss could not even bear to look at it. She dropped her knife, heedless as it clattered against the hard, stone ground, wiping her hands on her tunic in disgust from more than one source. Erak and Horace and Cassandra tried to talk to her, but she turned her face away, unable to look at them, either.
"I need to-" her voice faltered. "I need to go sort supplies. Excuse me."
Her stride was too quick to be a walk, too panicked to be alright, but no one questioned her. They all let her go, and she didn't look back as she went. She moved to the edge of their camp in moments, pacing past slabs of ruined pillars and broken buildings until finally those were the only things around. She paused for a long moment, staring out at the vast, dark cavern of the House of Hades, and then very carefully and methodically sat down on a half-destroyed stone bench. Then, at last, she let herself drop the mask.
The tears came out easily, a flood loosed from a just-ruptured dam, and she lost herself in it. For a long time she sat there, hunched over and head between her knees, wracking with sobs that only hurt her injured body more. She cried until exhaustion overtook her, until she had no more tears left to cry. And finally she traced a hand on the earth, looking back at the elevator as her last tear trailed down her face.
"Please forgive me," she whispered. "Will, please forgive me."