Chapter 24: Oklahoma City
I was the last to wake up, probably because of the kick to the face Samael gave me. We all got off pretty well considering what just happened to us. We were sitting by a group of tree's not far from where the bashed up Toyota Celica lay. We had been pretty lucky. Luke's head had hit the side mirror pretty hard and the left side of his face was layered with dried blood. The wound had gone thanks to the magical works of Ambrosia and Nectar. It was remarkable that when you were quick enough a would be fatal wound would barely leave a scar. Luke leaned against a tree and looked at the stars with a vacant expression it seemed that even though his wounds had healed the shock was still there. I didn't think any of us had been in a car crash before. It probably was no different from any other victim of route 66. One moment you're just driving home or to family and the next your car is flipping over, bouncing over the highway like a tennis ball. Max had gotten off with a few cuts and bruises. The air bag probably saved his skin. He was the one that dragged me to my current location and the only one of the three of us that didn't pass out. I myself felt blood streaming over my face, I wasn't sure if that was from the kick or from the crash itself. Other than my face my left wrist hurt terribly. I could barely move it and was afraid that it was broken. My vision was blurry and everything seemed to go in slow motion. I had gotten used to these things. I had nearly died a few times now, seemed to be kind of normal these days. There was a thing worse than the pain though, the fear. I was afraid of dying, afraid of standing in front of Phthonos with the intention of challenging him, but more than anything I was afraid of Samael. And now he was right on our track. Maybe he had been following us from the start. I wondered if I really saw him in New York and if he led me into the monster's lair. One thing bothered me though. Why didn't he just kill me? Maybe it really was because Phthonos had plans for me but that wouldn't explain the fact that he didn't finish Luke and Max off. It made me wonder if Samael wasn't who I thought he was. I remembered him as a killer without remorse or any human emotion what so ever but the dream proved otherwise. And now this...was Samael truly that bad? Maybe I was being stupid. After all I had seen Samael do some horrible things...a few times that he didn't go for the kill or showed a sense of remorse for his actions didn't change any of that. I didn't tell Luke or Maximus about my thoughts. Maybe it was easier to hate the enemy than to feel bad for him. I didn't really know, personally I didn't really know what it meant to be a good guy. Looking at my past I hadn't done anything that made me a good person. This was the only thing, this was my redemption.
It was about an hour before we started moving towards Oklahoma city on foot. There was little time for delay. It would take us a few hours, we were at least another 30 miles away from the city. If we had a half decent pace it would have taken us half the time it did but because of the crash we were strolling more than walking. We were all in pain and I don't know about the others but I was scared. Phthonos was our enemy, Samael was stalking us a every turn and then there were the monsters. It didn't really look good for us. We walked just of the road. Walking on the highway didn't seem like a smart idea but using the road was the easiest way to get to the city. After about an hours walk we ended up at a plate saying: Oklahoma city 31. I thought it would take us at least a day at our pace. After a while we started feeling better though. Along the road we found a little lunch room (this one wasn't monster infested) and had something to eat. After that we doubled in speed. I figured we were going about 3 miles an hour meaning it would still take us half a day to get to the city.
"So Max, do you have any idea what is in Oklahoma that's so important?" Luke asked. We hadn't really talked a lot, even while we were eating.
"Kinda. There's a bank in the centre of town that I want to go to. Phthonos and I went there to put a package in my personal storage box."
"You have a storage box?" Luke asked. I already knew all that Max told Luke, the only thing that I didn't know was the content of the package, something that Max seemed to have forgotten as well. It made me wonder how much Phthonos had tempered with Max's memory over the years. How much of his seventeen years long life had been erased from his memory?
"Yeah I do. Only at this bank though. Phthonos has a little deal with the bank. It's the most high standing bank in the region thanks to Phthonos, in return the bank cleans up Phthonos's path of destruction." The more I heard about Phthonos the more he seemed like the devil to me. Whoever owned this bank had sold his soul to the devil. Just for power he had given up his humanity.
"So what's so important about the package?" Luke asked the same question I had. And I knew Maximus would give the same answer.
"I can't remember...but if Phthonos and I went to that bank to keep it safe it was important." Max seemed 100 percent sure of that. I decided not to doubt him. Luke may have but Maximus looked so sure that I think his doubt faded. So we marched on towards Oklahoma. We only took a few minutes every hour or so to rest. Given what our task was standing around to catch a breather was a waste of time. Luckily we were all in good shape. A two or three hours hike anyone could survive. Try walking ten hours in July heat, not fun. We drank a lot of water and at any road side shop we spend nearly ten dollars worth of water. On the way we talked little, we tried to focus on keeping up speed rather than chatting. I myself wished I had some music to listen to. None of my albums were undamaged after the car crash and even if they weren't taking them would have weighed me down. I was quite happy with what Erebus had done to Shadow-edge. It was much easier to carry now that it had the shape of a lighter. I hadn't tried the glove out yet and wasn't fussed to either. After all Erebus said he had to test me and I doubted that the first test would be the last. Maybe using the glove would conjure up another test. I wasn't going to use the glove until I absolutely needed it. Of course it was smarter to just use it, deal with the test and when I needed it I would be fine. But if it was a test I doubted that it would do what Erebus said it would. It was better not to use the glove...I would have to survive without Erebus' help.
"Come on it's going to close." I was quite amazed at Maximus' new found energy. I was extremely tired. My feet were sore and I was still warm. It had taken us ages but here we were. Oklahoma bank. The building was huge. It would have stood out even in a city like New York. The main hall was giant with four escalators leading to the second floor. Two right in front of us and one on each side. Upstairs was a simple platform. There were elevator doors and a few hallways and such. Above the front entrance there was glass with the logo of the bank. I wondered if a bank really needed such a giant building. Given how many people filled the main hall I guessed it did. There was a giant line at each of the fifteen counters. Did the whole state use this bank?
"Guess we're waiting in line." I said. I dreaded waiting for so long. But we had to speak to one of the people at the counters I suppose.
"Please." Maximus said. Instead of waiting in back of the line Maximus walked towards the closest escalator. I guessed Phthonos' ex lackey didn't have to wait in line.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Thirteenth floor." Maximus had been here quite a few times or so it seemed. He moved around quickly and with a purpose. Luke and I were looking around in amazement while Maximus ignored it all. The elevator was simple although the stench alarmed me. Most elevators smelled weird but very few had the stench of blood. Other than that the button fourteen was missing on the floor panel. Maybe it was a simple mistake, that's what I thought anyway.
The thirteenth floor had office layout with cubicles and personal offices. I never really understood the point of it, even if I was a mortal working in a cubical was a hell no for me. I guess for these people it was a living. I wondered if every floor was like this or just this one. Maximus didn't really look at any of the cubical workers. In the business world the cubical workers were the lowest life form so to speak, Maximus didn't seem to think otherwise. The people in the cubicles looked weirder than I imagined. Their eyes were vacant. They stared at their computer screens and typed. Some of them looked like they hadn't slept or eaten for days.
"We call them the drones." Maximus said. "They don't sleep, they barely eat, they work until they drop dead. Most of them are interns or people who have no job. The bank hires everyone, even people who have no idea what they're doing. What they need to know gets planted into their heads and they are set to work until they drop." Maximus said. I was shocked, and I thought Luke was too. To Maximus it seemed normal though. I wondered how much time he had spend at this bank. Maybe a bit too much.
"Can we help them?" I asked. I couldn't stand by and watch these people work themselves to death for a demon bank.
"I doubt it. Even if you could you'd have some work on your hand. Every cubicle floor has fifty cubicles at least and there are thirty floors like this. That and it wouldn't go unnoticed. The entire bank would turn against you. The drones and other things are here. Even if you would it out alive you probably wouldn't be able to save a full floor. These people were lost as soon as they walked in for their first day of work." Seeing this, and hearing Maximus talk made me hate Phthonos even more. Him and whoever owned this bank. They were evil, how could they do this to mortals without a second thought? How many people had died here? How many people were still going to die here? Worst of all was that Maximus was right...I couldn't help them.
We walked past the drones in their cubicles and into a hallway. It was simple, white walls, grey floors and not any thing that would make you want to work here. It was a cold place. Luke and I followed Maximus. He knew exactly where to go, or so it seemed. He walked into a door to the left, the fire escape. Metal staircases leading both up and down. I had seen two fire escape doors, why did he take this one? We walked up two sets of stairs to the next door. On the door the number fourteen was painted in black. So there was a fourteenth floor?
"Before you ask the fourteenth isn't a floor most can access. Just like the twenty-eighth, forty-second and fifty-sixth. Other than fourteen they are on the elevator panel but you need an access key to get there." We walked through the white door. There were only hallways, one to the right, one to the left and one to the front. All with the same floor and walls. Personally I wouldn't be able to navigate through here. Maximus walked straight ahead and took the first left, he knew exactly where to go.
"So what's important about those floors?" Luke asked. It was the first question he had.
"Phthonos keeps his things here." Maximus opened a door to the left. The room it led to was giant. So giant that inside fitted a scorpion the size of a bus. Lightning quick it's tail flew forward only to be held back by a chain.
"I didn't think Phthonos kept pets. Does he take this thing for walks around the park?" Luke joked. Maximus closed the door again. The floor was more like a maze than anything else. Maximus took rights and lefts that seemed random to me but he looked straight forward. Apparently is wasn't so random to him. At one point he turned his head left for just a second. His gaze going to one specific door. It was the same door every other room had but this one was important for some reason. In half a second his gaze had returned, he probably didn't think either of us noticed. I stopped though...I wanted to know what was behind that door.
"Come on Angel, no time to lose." Maximus said. Luke had a questioning look on his face.
"What's behind this door Max?" I asked. Maybe I was wrong, maybe Maximus didn't even look at the door. But I had to know.
"Nothing important let's go." Maximus took another step forward but Luke had joined me in my curiosity. Max sighed and walked back. He opened the door and walked in. Luke and I followed closely behind him. I expected some kind of monster but what I found was a Spartan like apartment. The room we walked into had a bed, a small kitchen in the corner and two doors. "This is where I lived for nearly ten years." I was shocked. He lived here? How could anyone live here? I knew what it was like to live in a room where you had nothing more than you needed. In the orphanage we had that but this was Spartan on a whole new level. "Like I said...Phthonos keeps his things here." I understood now what Maximus was to Phthonos. I knew that Maximus wasn't important and that he would kill his slave if he needed but now I understood completely. Maximus wasn't a slave or a minion. He was a pet, this was his cage. Maybe there was little difference between pet and slave but only now I realized how much Maximus had to hate Phthonos. The strangest thing was that he didn't seem to hate Phthonos. Maybe Maximus really thought Phthonos was like a father. "Let's go." Maximus said coldly. He acted like the room meant nothing to him. But being here...I could see in his face that it touched him. We walked through more hallways, more random lefts and rights until Maximus stopped. He opened the third door.
The room was oval shaped, there was a desk in the middle of the room and a man in suit stood with his back faced to us. He was staring outside his window, a window overlooking what I imagined as hell. A dark place with no sun or light, blood and severed limbs. Just looking at it made me want to puke. Inside my head I could feel Colt. It was the kind of world he would have loved. And when the man turned around...I understood that it was the world how he wanted it. In front of us behind the desk stood Phthonos.
"I'm sorry guys..." Maximus said. It took me a few seconds before I understood. It took me another minute to believe it. Maximus had betrayed us, he had given us up to Phthonos. Luke had already conjured up his sword from his bronze hand and I reached into my pocket for the black Zippo lighter. Maximus had joined Phthonos behind his desk.
"You treacherous bastard!" I had seen Luke angry, he was ready to kill Maximus just like he was ready to kill Colt when he first attacked Maria. Just like he had killed Mack.
"Don't be angry Luke, he just did as master commanded." Phthonos said with a wicked smile on his face. Maximus didn't look at us. He stared down at the floor as if something really interesting was going on over there.
"You..." Luke said. Looking at Phthonos his anger rose to a whole new level. He seemed to be at a point where he couldn't think straight. Like this he was going to dash towards Phthonos and make the biggest mistake of his life.
"Luke calm down." If he attacked Phthonos it was all over. I couldn't let him make that mistake.
"Shut up Angel." Luke snapped. I knew he was angry, but that was uncalled for.
"If you attack him he'll kill you. Just like he killed Eric and Jake." I said. I had to get Luke to calm down.
"Leave the dead out of this. You have no idea Angel. Don't act like you've seen what I have." Luke seemed to be just as angry at me as he was at Phthonos and Max. I didn't understand why...but it pissed me off.
"You think I don't know what it's like to lose a friend? I lost everyone I ever cared about! Don't talk to me like I don't know what loss feels like!" Luke had no right to be such a bastard to me. If he believed he could do that without getting some back in his face he was an idiot.
"Yeah you know loss." Luke sounded sarcastic. "You also know how to cause it don't you? You've killed people. How many families mourned over their loved ones? You're no better than Phthonos. And now here you are acting like some kind of hero. I've been at camp for years, doing all the good I can. And now here you are leading a quest to save the world." Was Luke jealous? Was he being serious?
"How can you be jealous of me! I've got no one. You can go home to your friends and girlfriend. A place to call home. I've got nothing! I'll never have a chance to be happy like you!" I knew that a part of me was jealous of Luke. He was as normal as a demigod could be. He had regrets but he had a life to protect unlike me or Max for that matter. Only now I noticed Phthonos...the god of jealousy. He stood there with a slight grin on his face, we were like an entertaining play for him. That´s when I realized that he was causing this. Maybe Luke was jealous of me, I couldn't see how but I knew I was jealous of him in a way. But we were friends, we didn't say those things to each other. But Phthonos brought it all out. We had just lost someone to the enemy and here we were fighting each other. If this continued...I finally understood the third line of Rachel's prophecy. If this continued I would be finishing this quest alone.
"Please stop..." All three of us turned our heads to Maximus. Luke and I were surprised. Phthonos just laughed.
"So you actually care about them? We're going to have to knock that out of you." He laughed again. He sounded so sadistic and evil. It wasn't an evil laugh like in the old movies. It was a chuckle filled with the enjoyment of others pain. "But what the hell. You've done such a smashing job I might as well grant you this." Then it all disappeared. The anger, the jealousy. Luke and I lowered our weapons. A second ago we wanted to kill each other now we were both back to our senses. Phthonos had controlled us like puppets.
"So Michael...we meet again. Of course you're not really the side of you I met last time are you?" Phthonos said.
"I'm not Colt."
"Not yet." Phthonos said with a smile. Then my head felt like it exploded. A horrible pain that made a migraine seem like nothing. Colt was coming out. My last look was Luke and Maximus passing out. Phthonos and Colt needed to talk in private.
"You're a real bastard you know that Phthonos." Colt said. He had no respect for anyone, even for his current employer.
"No need for compliments." Phthonos said.
"If you wanted me here you could have just called." Colt said.
"Sorry to mislead you Michael. But you see, if Angel got his hands on this information too early it would have ruined everything. That and seeing Luke and Angel get deceived by their dear friend is much more entertaining." Of course that would be something Phthonos enjoyed. He was that kind of god.
"I'm keeping everything from him just fine. He has no idea when it's him or me. Either way...you want Messor."
"I guess you understand the full plan now. Samael and Maximus have been searching for the true Messor endlessly. Only Maximus didn't remember. He thinks we were here with the package two months ago. That was last October." Colt seemed to find it amusing how much of his memory Maximus had lost.
"What was in that package anyway?" Colt asked.
"The first copy of Messor, I thought it was the real one. I was wrong. I should have known that Jake had hidden it somewhere." Phthonos said with a slight tone of rage.
"So these names you gave me...they're like the girl Samael killed? Holding copies of the dagger?" Colt asked.
"Indeed. They might not all be little girls, Samael had quite the problem with that." Phthonos laughed like he had before.
"So is that the only reason Maximus had to get us here?"
"Not exactly...but the rest of it doesn't involve you." I think Colt and I both realized at this point that Phthonos could trigger the change between us. Did Colt think he triggered it before? Or didn't he really realize what was happening until he stood in front of Phthonos? The same pain went through Colt...and then I was standing there again.
My head ache was killing me. The switch between me and Colt was painful when it didn't happen in our sleep and twice in half an hour was very painful. It was like Colt had never been there. Luke and Maximus were standing where they stood before, even the same expressions were on their faces. I didn't remember them passing out, nor the conversation between Phthonos and Colt. It was a gap in my memory, just like Maximus' gaps, even though at this point I doubted that he didn't remember Phthonos' plan or the package (if that even existed. Colt knew it did but I wasn't so sure any more.)
"No indeed you aren't." The conversation me and Phthonos were having picked up where it left off. I didn't remember there had been an interval.
"So what's this about Phthonos?" I asked. Luke was standing beside me trying to keep his cool. Now that Phthonos wasn't messing with our heads that was a lot easier.
"Do you like the room Michael? Recognize it by any chance?" I didn't. Mostly because I didn't really follow politics or history or anything like that. I'm a horrible American. I looked around the room. It was quite fancy, on the floor was an eagle with the American flag. I had no clue what room this was supposed to be.
"It's the oval office." Luke said. Phthonos grinned.
"The office of the most powerful mortal alive. Or so they say." Phthonos said. "I have to tell though, I love America. It's so much better than the countries we used to be before. Everywhere you look a man jealous of those better than him. Every alley a fool with malicious intentions. American's are such interesting mortals. All so proud of their country. And the foolish mortals don't even realize it wasn't their species that gave them all the prowess they have." Phthonos chuckled. I wondered where he was going with this. "Soon though they will know...they'll know that they are nothing but ants. And you will help me Michael." Phthonos looked at me with a grin on his face.
"I'd never help you!" I said. I doubted about that. After all what he was offering wasn't something not to consider. The power he was willing to give me. It was...tempting.
"You seem so convinced." He said sarcastically.
"Is this why he made us come here?" Luke asked. "Just to have a chat?" Luke sounded so angry, I knew the anger wasn't caused by Phthonos but I thought Luke would try to sound calm.
"Not really. Mostly I just wanted my property back. Thanks for feeding and walking him but I can take care of him now." He talked about Maximus as if he was a dog. I could feel my hand clenching into a fist. "Well...that was all. Bye bye for now." Phthonos walked from behind the task and passed us towards the door. There was nothing me and Luke could do to him. If we attacked him now he would kill us with ease. We could attack Maximus. If Phthonos wanted him to return he must have some use but I doubted that he was irreplaceable. And even if Phthonos did really need him...I couldn't kill him. I heard the door close behind me. Phthonos and Maximus were gone. Luke and I were left in the fake oval office with the view of hell.
I felt numb. A friend had just betrayed me and I had just been told by a god that I would help him destroy life as we knew it. Luke and I were quiet. We didn't know what to say. We left the room and found our way back to the staircases. We decided to walk down. It was quite a walk but I was happy that we weren't on the fifty-sixth floor. The staircase stopped at a door with a one painted on it. Ground floor, if we were lucky we only had to get through the main hall. Of course luck wasn't on our side. The door wouldn't budge. I slashed at it with Shadow-edge but it didn't change a thing. We went up one stairs. This door opened smoothly. We walked into the hallway and walked towards the platform we had been on before...that time with Maximus. We looked down into the main hall, it was filled with people like before. But these weren't normal people...not any more. They had a vacant stare, and all held different kinds of weapons. Swords, spears, axes, flails. They were drones, but I doubted these were good at typing up reports.
"A little parting gift from Phthonos." Luke said as he drew his sword and shield.
"We can't harm them. They're people." I said.
"You heard Max, they are slaves to Phthonos. Its a fat chance that we can even get out of here if you are afraid to harm them." I understood Luke...but how could I kill these people? How could he? Maybe he understood better than I did that these weren't people any more. Just bodies, walking dead so to speak. They started to come up the escalators. There were at least fifty of them. Luke blocked the attacks with his shield and attacked with his sword. Most of the attacks were fatal blows. These drones weren't great fighters but the two of us couldn't fight an army. Unlike Luke I disarmed our foes. A punch or kick in the face once or twice. With Shadow-edge I met their blades and with a punch to the face I would take them down. Eventually it caught up to me. I felt a stinging pain in my left leg. A spear had made a deep cut, a dagger cut my arm and a sword was coming towards my neck. Then time seemed to stop. The room filled with darkness and I heard a voice...I wasn't sure if it was all in my head or if it just happened so fast that no one noticed it.
"Michael...compassion is a good thing. But don't let it be the end of you." Light returned. I knew the voice had been my father. I wondered if helping me like that was allowed. I always heard that the gods weren't allowed to interfere with the lives of their children. Then again Phthonos had obviously broken that rule. And for some reason Erebus didn't seem like the kind of god to stick to the ancient laws.
I just dodged the sword coming at me. I didn't doubt any more. Shadow-edge flew into the gut of the nearest drone. I cut of the tip of the spear and in one motion the tip of my sword cut my attackers throat. My wounds hurt but adrenaline kept me going. "Luke we need a plan!" I said while cutting down another drone. Downstairs I saw more drones appearing. Maximus had told us there were at least a thousand in the building...our chance of survival was dropping dangerously low.
"We have to get back up the fire escape." Luke said. I didn't understand what he meant. We'd be trapped. But if he thought it was a good idea.. I started going to through the hallway. Luke did the same. I walked backwards looking behind me a few times to check for more drones. In front of me I took down every drone that came near. They really couldn't fight. All of them made the same movements and they were extremely slow with their attacks. Dodging or parrying was easy. We made it to the white door and got in. "Run!" We ran up the stairs as fast as we could. The drones followed us in a very slow pace. We got to the twelfth floor and Luke ran in. There were no cubicles. Just a few offices and such. There was no one here, outside I could see everything grow darker and darker. It wouldn't be long before the sun had gone down completely. We blocked the door to the fire escape, we doubted that it would stop the drones for long but we had to try. We walked past the offices until we got to a big office in the back of the hall. We walked in and locked the door behind his. I was thinking that we were locking ourselves in more and more. Luke was looking out of the window frantically. I was wondering if he was thinking of jumping. Eventually I closed the shutters making the room almost completely dark. "Use the glove."
"What?" I didn't understand why he wanted me to do that. What was the point?
"Just do it!" Luke seemed so certain. I was still afraid that it was another test. Behind us the drones had nearly broken through our barricade. I didn't know why Luke wanted me to use the glove but I listened.
"Erebus?" He said I had to call on him. I didn't know if that meant his name or some kind of full prayer. This seemed to do the trick. Only it didn't do what I expected. I figured I would turn invisible or something, instead everything around me turned into that thick darkness I had seen twice now. Only this time it came from the glove, or so it seemed. It was the same darkness though, and again it felt like time had stopped, maybe that was because in the darkness there was no time. There was nothing other than the darkness. I stood there for a few seconds waiting. Maybe this was what Erebus meant. I thought so until things appeared in the darkness. They didn't seem like monsters but they weren't human either. They were shadows. They were pure black and the weapons they held were just shades. Were they even there? Was this in my head? I didn't know...what I did know was that I had to defend myself. Out of my pocket I got Shadow-edge. I turned the flint and the lighter changed into the sword I had taken from Samael. That seemed so long ago now. I wondered if the sword had belonged to me longer than to him. I didn't think that question would ever be answered.
There were three of them. At first I didn't feel very confident. I was outnumbered (of course these were better odds then me and Luke against the drones) and I was wounded. Or so I believed. When I looked at my arm and leg the wounds were gone. Did this darkness heal me? Even more I didn't feel so tired. I was sharper than ever. Did Erebus want me at full strength for this fight? If these things killed me he probably wouldn't care, but at least he wanted me to be the best I could be. The three carried different weapons. A sword, an axe and a spear. They all seemed skilled with their weapons. I was sure these fights would be more challenging than ten of the drones outside these shadows. I was wondering if the drones were still approaching Luke and me. If so there was a chance that Luke was fighting them alone while I was standing in front of Erebus' challenge. But I had little time to worry about anything but the challenge. The shades attacked me simultaneously. I dodged the spear by sidestepping which got me out of the axes reach at the same time. The swordsman slashed towards me. I brought Shadow-edge upwards and blocked it's attack. I was probably quick enough to bring my sword down and sweep his leg but the spear was coming towards me again. I jumped backwards dodging the spear once again. The shade with the axe charged towards me. It seemed the most aggressive and the least skilled fighter to me. Maybe that's what I thought of most fighters wielding an axe. I had tried it once, it was a clumsy weapons and required strength more than anything. It was not a weapon I would choose. The axe came down quicker than I thought. I dodged but the sharp blade nearly cut off my foot. The shade was strong and lifted the weapon with ease and swung at me again. I knew that with the strength of the shade and the size of the axe I couldn't block or parry this thing. I had to get out of its way. That got tougher each time it swung at me. Not just that the other two were tired of waiting and it wouldn't be long before they would attack as well. The reach of this axe was too far for me to get close. If this continued we would be dancing around like this for some time. Of course I would get tired while the shade probably didn't know fatigue like I did. Eventually I knew that the only way I was going to beat this thing was by using the other two. I knew one of them was going to join the skirmish, and I prayed it would be the one of the spear. The spear was the only weapon with more reach than the axe. If I found a way to put them across each other the spear would beat the axe, at least I hoped it would. Of course luck wasn't on my side. The shade carrying a sword came at me at incredible speed. The shade with the axe was also swinging at me again. They had pincered me, the sword at my back and the axe at my front. If behind me was the one with the with the spear I would have had my wish but instead I got this. I dodged the axe like I had before and turned around as quick as I could. I held Shadow-edge in front of me hoping I would meet my opponents blade. As I heard the cling of metal colliding I knew I was safe for the time. I had to get rid of the shade in front of me. I couldn't fight it and the one holding the axe at the same time. I attacked and it parried with ease, when it tried to attack me I blocked and attacked. We went on like that. In my mind we weren't going that fast but if someone was watching the fight, following the blades would be extremely tough. With my ADHD/inherited fighting senses I was able to keep up with these kinds of speed but most people weren't. Eventually I caught it's blade on mine and grabbed it's wrist. I pushed it's arm away from me and with Shadow-edge I decapitated the shade. It dissolved into the darkness as if it had never been there. I now held Shadow-edge and my opponents sword. I never fought with two swords at once, but it seemed like a handy advantage.
I had rid myself of one opponent but two remained. I had two weapons now, if my reflexes were good enough I could possible fend off both attackers using one sword for each of my foe's. The funny thing was that it seemed that shadow-edge (which was usually about four and a half foot) seemed to have shrunk. It was the exact same length as the other sword. Maybe it was just my imagination though. It made the weapons easier to carry. It would also improve my movement speed, meaning it was just one more advantage. Of course I was still outnumbered and I was getting quite tired. The two were standing in front of me. The shade with the axe seemed completely focused on me with it's weapon by it's side while the other was waving around it's spear pulling of little tricks. Either he was showing off or he was trying to distract me, I figured it was the latter. For a second I thought about attacking them but attacking two opponents seemed foolish. It was better to stay defensive and find an opening. That's when the one with the spear charged. It tried to stab me in my chest like it had before. I was thinking of side stepping but instead I went for an opening. I bend my knee's and balanced myself on my toe's making getting as close to the ground as I could. I crossed my two swords and caught the spear at the meeting point of my blades. I got back to my feet and pushed my weapons upwards. The tip of the spear was now far above my head. The stick of the spear rested on the sword I got from the shade. I turned my arm left pushing the spear away and freeing Shadow-edge. The shade was now wide open for an attack. With Shadow-edge I cut it twice before it dissolved into the shadows like the last enemy had.
Now it was just me and the shade with the axe. He was stronger than me and surprisingly fast with a weapon like that. I should have known that it was possible to master an axe like that. There were quite a few Ares kids at camp that could carry an axe with that skill and precision. Luckily even though I had underestimated his speed I was slightly faster. Dodging it's swings caused little problem only it would tire me out. And after taking out two quite skilled opponents I wanted to finish off the third quickly. It came at me and swung the axe downwards. If there had been any solid ground the axe would probably get stuck in it with it's incredible strength. It was something that usually happened in the video games when fighting a big enemy. It would get stuck in the ground making sure that the player could attack. All I could do though was dodge and try to find a single opening. That was all it would take. I dodged it's every swing The more he swung the harder it got, until it made a mistake. It tried to sweep my legs. What I was going to try would either cut off both my feet or hand this fight to me. I jumped. Outside the shadow I would have felt the blade cut through the wind, or at least heard it. Here there was nothing. There was no wind, I was quite surprised that I could breathe. Maybe it was a son of Erebus thing. Kids of Poseidon could breathe underwater, I could breathe in pure darkness. When my feet hit the ground (or the darkness that we stood on, call it what you wish) the fight was over. He hadn't raised his axe above my knees yet and I was standing in front of him with two swords and it's entire body wide open. I stabbed both my swords in it's body. Before my swords were all the way through the shade had already dissolved. The fight had barely lasted five minutes.
"Again you did better than I expected." Erebus said. He had appeared in front of me barely a second after the shade dissolved. This day just wouldn't end. He looked the same as he had before. "I expected you'd take longer." Erebus said. I wanted to prove myself to him, but I did think he was a bastard.
"No congratulations." Erebus didn't seem one for jokes or sarcasm. He didn't smile, he didn't show any sign that he didn't like what I said either. He seemed very serene to me.
"Well done." He said awkwardly. "Either way I'm not here to tell you how you did. I'm here to tell you something most gods would not. You're talents." I didn't understand what he meant. I knew every demigod had things from their parents. Luke wasn't a master of machinery because of his mother's side (come to think of it Luke had never told me about his mother.) "Since you're in a sticky situation I should probably tell you about shadow travel." I had never heard of shadow travel. I could pretty much guess what it was.
"Why are you helping me? It doesn't seem like you really care about me. And you're breaking ancient rules by doing this." I said. I really didn't understand why Erebus did this. Maybe it was because he didn't care about the rules. Maybe he really wanted to help me.
"Because you're not strong enough." Erebus said. It felt bad hearing that from him. I knew that I wasn't, I had always known. But hearing it from my own father...it hurt. "If I don't help you won't even make it out of this building. And sadly you are the only one that can stop Phthonos." I figured that a good father son bond wasn't happening any time soon. "Either way shadow travel is easy to do, extremely hard to master. Just walk in the shadows and imagine the place you want to go. The darkness will lead you there. Tell your friend to cover his eyes and ears if he doesn't want to go mad." Then Erebus disappeared again. I didn't feel any better than before. I felt worse. I had hoped that my father tested me because he wanted me to survive, not that he thought I was too weak to stand on my own two feet. I stood there alone for another few seconds before the shadows disappeared again. No time seemed to have passed. So in the darkness time really didn't exist. That or it moved extremely slow. I was gone for at least a few minutes but it seemed like I had been away for barely a few seconds.
"Angel!" Luke said. "You're back, where did you go?" He asked.
"The darkness, how long was I gone? Have the drones broken through?" I asked. Luke shook his head.
"No they're still trying but they're closing in. You were gone for barely ten seconds. It was longer for you wasn't it?" Luke asked. He seemed to know already. He probably knew more of these things than I did. He had been at camp much longer and had seen different kinds of demigods. I wondered if he had met more children of Erebus.
"Yeah it was." I said. I didn't really want to say much. We had to move. We had to shadow travel, if Erebus said that would get us out of here it had to work.
"So what did Erebus tell you?" Luke seemed pretty sure about these things, was I really gone or did it happen in front of his eyes?
"He told me about shadow travel." I said. "How do you know I talked to him?"
"Well I figured the glove would trigger another challenge, I know you did too." He was right. That's why I had been hesitant to use it. "I also thought that once you completed it you would get some information or something you could use, maybe another challenge." Luke said. "But shadow travel...I didn't see that one coming." Luke said.
"Well it's rather easy." I said. At least the way Erebus explained it was easy.
"It's a very dangerous and advanced technique. The first time Jeni tried it she was asleep for three days. Of course she's a daughter of Hades not Erebus. They're able to shadow travel but not half as talented as you should be." It seemed like it was a guess more than a fact.
"Do you have any other ideas?" I thought shadow travel was the only way out of here. We had to try it. And just when Luke spoke we lost all other options. The drones broke through. Not just one, dozens charged towards us. They broke through the office door with ease. I just looked at Luke and he nodded. Outside the moon shined bright. I didn't really know how I could take Luke into the shadows, I just grabbed his arm and hoped it would work. "Cover your eyes and ears." I said before walking into the shadow of the wall.
The room was gone, I was in the darkness again, Luke was beside me holding his hands over his ears and closing his eyes. Of course it didn't really matter whether he opened or closed his eyes. He wouldn't see the difference anyway. I didn't unless there was something in the darkness with me, in this case Luke. I saw nothing except for Luke. I walked on not really sure where we would end up. I had only thought 'outside of Oklahoma city on the other side we came in please' as if I was talking to a taxi driver. I wondered why Erebus told Luke to close his eyes and ears. Maybe the darkness was different for people who weren't children of Erebus (or Hades apparently.) Now that I started listening though...I heard. It seemed to come from everywhere. I couldn't focus on the sound like you could outside. I just heard it from every direction. Whispers, I couldn't make out what they were saying. First it was one voice, then there were many. They were far away but close by. They were there, but weren't. What were they? Now I understood. I was looking around frantically trying to find the sound. I kept walking forward hoping I would leave this darkness soon. But it wasn't soon. It seemed like I walked for hours. Luke still kept his eyes closed and his hands over his ears. Did it seem so long for him. I wanted to do what he did. Shut out the whispers. But if I wanted to hold my hands over my ears I would have to let go of Luke. What would happen to him if I did? He couldn't shadow travel, where would he end up? I couldn't do that, instead I picked up my pace and hoped that it would end. It didn't end. It never ended. The darkness never ended. It was an endless pit of nothingness. It was like that...until I crashed to my knees. My eyes hurt, there was too much light even though it was just the feint light of the moon and the stars. I heard normal sounds again. The wind was the only thing I heard...but no whispers. I was out, I had made it out. Luke felt I had let go of him. He opened his eyes and when he saw he was outside he removed his hands from over his ears. I felt horrible, I had never been this out of it. Everything moved so slow and nothing seemed real.
"You did it! I can't believe you did it!" He looked at me. His voice sounded far away and his words were stretched as if he had been put on super slow motion. "Angel? Are you alright?" Luke sounded worried, I didn't hear the difference though. For me it was all just noise. I didn't really hear what he was saying and the things I did hear I didn't remember half a second later. That's when I couldn't take it any more, I fell towards the ground. I could feel everything grow dark around me. Sound fading again. Was I going into the darkness? No not again! I couldn't take it again! I didn't want to go in there again. "Angel! ANGEL!" help...