Page 20 of Chaos Unleashed

We end up having a second round of both food and ale, and the bartender is more than happy to allow us to take some food with us, especially since we pay handsomely for it. As we’re leaving, he stops Grey.

“If Hades were to be found, there is a following that is still loyal to him and aren’t swayed by the princes lies or live in fear of their wrath,” the bartender pauses as he looks over all of us with a knowing glint in his eye, “we would gladly fight alongside him to fix the wrongs that the princes have wrought in the Underworld.”

“That is good to know,” Grey replies, gripping his forearm, “what is your name?”

“Bezeal,” the bartender replies.

Grey nods and smiles, “Nice to meet you.”

“We need to get going if we’re going to find somewhere to settle down for the night,” Khaos says.

We say our goodbyes and head back out, finding our horses exactly where we left them and load up. Once we’re out of the village and making our way down a dirt road, I start up the conversation again.

“Do you think he knew that you were Hades?” I ask.

Grey shakes his head, “I doubt it. There’s no way that he could possibly know.”

“Isn’t it more likely that he thought that we’re a strange enough group that he automatically assumed that we may know something?” Zev asks.

“Our reaction to what he was saying was strong enough that he wouldn’t think that we were on the princes side, so it is possible,” Reaper agrees.

“And we were asking questions about things that we would have known about if we were natives of the Underworld,” Loki adds.

“Regardless of whether he knew who we, or more specifically you, are, we need to remember him. We’re going to need as much help as we can to sort this out, and I have a feeling that we’re only scratching the surface of what the princes have been up to in your absence,” Khaos warns.

Fixing the Underworld seems like a gargantuan task to me, and I have no idea where we’ll even start, but I know that we’re not going to allow Grey to fight this battle alone. I just have no idea how it’s going to fit in with the Warrior games that we have no choice but to be a part of and finding the key fragments so that the princes can’t open the door to the Underworld and allow some of the more deadly creatures to escape into the fae realm and then potentially into the others as well.

“Anyone else feeling snacky?” Loki asks.

“Dude, we just ate,” Khaos replies with a smile and adds, “but yeah, I could eat.”

“Can we at least find somewhere to spend the night before we eat more?” Storm suggests, rolling his eyes.

“Fine,” Loki jokes.

“Guys, shut up a minute; Ryu senses something,” Reaper orders.

I instantly become more alert as I study our surroundings. We’re still on the hard-packed dirt road, but as it is now extremely late and pitch black, we haven’t come across anyone else travelling. On either side of the road are densely packed trees, and if I’m being honest, we’re in the perfect place to be ambushed or assassinated.

At first, I don’t sense what Ryu does, but that’s hardly surprising since his senses are so much stronger than mine, and he always senses things before the rest of us do. A full minute after he’s mentioned it I sense something closing in on us from both sides of the road, we are definitely being ambushed.

“Do you want to see if we can outrun them?” I ask.

“Hell no, I want to play,” Storm grins, drawing his sword and twirling it in his hands.

“I was hoping that you were going to say that,” I reply.

There’s no time for any more conversation as creatures burst out of the tree line, not worrying about stealth and going straight for the kill. None of them stop to assess the situation, and we’re thrown into the fight immediately. I dismount my horse since I have no idea how Underworld horses react in this kind of situation, and I’m not bonded to it, so it will always choose its own life over helping me, which is entirely natural but means that I’d rather not fight from their backs and would prefer to do it with my feet firmly planted on the floor where I can’t get thrown or anything else.

As soon as my feet hit the ground, my tail stabs out behind me, killing an attack as my shadows warn me of someone attacking me from the left. I allow one of my shadow beasts free and draw my sword, preparing to attack. I trust that the others are all capable of looking after themselves, but I will check in on them to see if any of them need any backup after I've dealt with this one. I have no idea how many creatures are attacking us, but they’re soon going to wish that they hadn’t chosen us to attack.

As I swing my sword, the moonlight illuminates the creature that I’m fighting, and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it’s a Wraith. It shouldn’t be possible. Grey said that there were none in the Underworld. It’s not something that I can dwell on right now though as this one seems to be intent on eating my face.

I mean, seriously, it’s not just aiming for my neck, which would be relatively predictable and standard practice; it’s specifically trying to eat my face, and for some reason, that just freaks me out more. He seems ravenous, and because he’s so distracted by his own hunger it means that he makes mistakes and my sword is quickly slicing through neck, the head thumping as it hits the floor.

Shockingly enough, as soon as he’s dead, another Wraith takes his place; this one grins at me; it seems better trained and is sparring with me well, embedding spells into his sword that means I have to counteract with my own magic in order to stop him from killing me. He must have been very well trained in his past life.

Finally, I get the upper hand and knock his sword out of his hand; my shadows wrap around him, dragging him to the floor and pinning him there as I bring my sword up, ready to sever his head.

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