Page 96 of Hades

He stared at it, trying to figure out what was wrong. The gate had been sealed by Cerberus, but it was tied to Hades too, was a part of him as much as anything in the Underworld was, which meant he should be able to close it if he exerted his will strongly enough.

The reason he couldn’t hit him like a thunderbolt.

Cerberus.

Mnemosyne had to be on the other side, working against him by spilling more of Cerberus’s blood, counteracting his efforts. Rage burned through Hades like a wildfire to incinerate the light in him, the thought of Mnemosyne harming Cerberus like that igniting his blood, but the flames guttered out and he chilled right down to his marrow as something else struck him.

His father had been right.

He was going to fail.

Chapter 27

Persephone braced herself as another wave thundered over the shore, knocking several of the warriors off their feet. Water rushed around her legs and wind battered her, whipping it into foam that clung to her leather armour. She wiped the saltwater from her eyes and adjusted her grip on the sword before she swept it down in a deadly arc, severing the head of one of the fallen warriors before he could get back up. She pirouetted and thrust her arm forwards, stretching to reach the next male, and stabbed him through his side.

“Mother!” Marek waded towards her, water surging around his legs as he cut through it, and Caterina struggled to follow him. He bared his teeth at the water and the rock beneath his boots lifted, rising to form a walkway for him and his female. “Where’s Esher when you need him?”

He meant it in jest, but Persephone was wondering the same thing. Had Esher, Daimon and Calistos understood her message? Were they coming to help?

Or was Esher determined to obey Hades and remain at the Tokyo gate to protect it?

“Look out!” she called as another wave struck the rocky shore and blasted upwards, becoming a wall of water that was coming right at them. She swept her hand out and rock shot up behind Marek and Caterina as they reached her, curving over to form a wall that shielded them from the worst of the wave as it crashed down on the area before the gate.

Marek seized Caterina’s wrist and held on to her as the water swept around them, moving fast enough that it almost knocked the daemon-hybrid off her feet.

“Thanks,” Caterina murmured, her hazel eyes leaping to meet his as she found her footing. Her Spanish accent grew stronger as she cast a wary glance over her shoulder towards the seething ocean and the black clouds that boiled above it, her tone clipped. “This place is getting dangerous and I’m not talking about the horde of enemies out there. It won’t be long before we can’t fight here. That sea will be the death of us.”

It had already destroyed the upper half of the tower where Mnemosyne had held Persephone.

Many of the large stones were strewn across the battlefield, providing cover for the warriors whenever another wave broke over them. The rest of the tower had blown apart when a lightning bolt had struck it, the blast of electricity so powerful that it had thrown the heavy blocks over one hundred feet in all directions and had created a crater where the heart of the tower had once been. Since then, several other powerful bolts had hit the rocky shore, punching holes into it and incinerating close to a dozen warriors, some of whom had been on her side.

Persephone looked towards the gate. There were at least a hundred daemons between her and it now, and more were pouring into the area despite the dangers, drawn to the gate. Mnemosyne must have spread the word about this place to the daemon breeds Hades had banished from the Underworld, luring them here so they would shore up her forces as they desperately tried to enter that realm.

She glared at the thick curved wall of rock that formed a semicircle in front of the shimmering disc, aware that Mnemosyne and the witch were on the other side.

Mnemosyne had come hurtling out of the gate just seconds ago, making Persephone wish she hadn’t retreated to find Marek and Caterina to team up with them. She could have been there when the titaness had come through and might have been able to cut her down.

Marek looked towards the sea and nodded. “We need to end this now, before things get worse.”

“Worse is putting it mildly,” Persephone said with a grim look at the peninsula and the storm. “It will not be long before the gate begins destroying the area around it and then we shall have nowhere to fight. I am not sure it can take much more.”

The pulses of power emanating from the gate were growing stronger and closer together, and whenever the witch damaged it, the storm grew fiercer. In the distance, off to her right, another violent bolt of electricity slammed into the ground and men screamed.

Rain hammered her back, chilling her skin as she glared in the direction of Mnemosyne. “Regroup with your men and flank the gate with me.”

Marek nodded again, but lingered. “Be careful.”

She glanced at him, her expression softening. “You too. Both of you.”

They broke apart, Persephone heading towards the gate as Marek and Caterina cut a path towards the route that led up to higher ground, joining the commander of the legion as he hollered orders at his men.

Persephone hurled her free hand forwards and dusky brambles burst from the ground, twisting together in the air to form a thick rope of vines as they shot towards the wall the witch had built. The left side shattered as the vine hit it and she gasped as it revealed Cerberus and the witch. The female pulled her blade from his front left leg, her glowing green eyes lifting to lock onto Persephone.

Persephone gripped her sword in both hands and attacked the daemons that stood between her and Cerberus, hacking at them and pushing past her limit as she fought to ignore the ache in her limbs and how her tired muscles trembled. Several soldiers fell in behind her and to her left and right, taking on some of the daemons for her, but still many of the fiends made it through and tried to attack her. More brambles swept from beneath her feet, snaring daemons to make it easier for her to cut them down, while others protected her back, keeping the males and females there at bay.

Her gaze flickered to the gate behind Mnemosyne.

Was Hades all right?

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