Page 74 of The Hellbeast's Betrayal

“It’s complicated but at the time, he was living with the Queen, who is extremely jealous, and has wanted his offspring dead since she first learned of their existence. The tree, however, was kept protected from all harmful intent. Meaning when I stole a piece, my intentions were recognized as pure, and I was allowed to break it off. If Hades knew of this, I don’t know, only that it would have been more dangerous at the time to involve him,” Koro replied, giving insight to his part played in freeing Ella.

“But couldn’t he have fought Garmr?” Orth asked.

“Technically no, for at the time, Garmr was not in his realm, he was in the realm of Helheim, not under the control of Hades,” Koro told him, causing Marcus to ask,

“Which begs the question, where is good old Hades now?”

“I don’t know, as he hasn’t been seen for many decades now,” Koro admitted.

“And what about Ella, is she still bound to this realm, even if she has her powers back?” I asked, hoping for now that she was.

“She ate the fruit of our father and did so willingly,” Lerna replied.

“What does that mean?” Asher asked.

“That she will remain bound until our father can release her, regardless of her powers,” she said, making me release a held breath.

“Well at least we know that the war will be here then,” Lucius pointed out, as clearly that was where his mind was focused.

“Which gives us a good enough start as any, for we need to assemble our troops and have them on the move towards your realm,” Lucius continued, making me realize we had a lot of work ahead of us, but first things first, which was why I stood and told Lerna…

“Then it’s time we go speak with your father and…”

“My Maker.”

26

AN ABANDONED ERA

“Well, this isn’t what I was expecting,” Marcus muttered the second we were through the portal, one that was already fully operational. Although we had used Dariush’s unique skills to get us to the border of his brother’s land, so as we didn’t waste time.

However, one look around the abandoned castle and I would say we had already done that.

“Fuck!”I roared, punching my fist through some of the crumbling stone, as I shouted,“Where the fuck is he?!”Something neither Koro, Lerna, Marcus, nor my brother could answer.

“But I don’t understand… it should be here… he should be here… this is his castle,” Lerna said in a desolate tone, now walking towards a part of the garden that was filled with dead plants, broken statues, and a very distinct hole in the ground.

One where a tree once grew.

“Yes, well not anymore,”I gritted out, yanking my fist free and ignoring the way my torn skin healed. The portal had brought us to what had once been Hades’ castle, but one look at the ruins we found and we all knew that something had gone wrong. Hence why we had all gone running across the bridge. Quickly making our way inside, only to find nothing but the broken remnants of what once was a beautiful, imposing castle.

And within its walls we found his garden, or what little remained of it, for our sole purpose for coming here was gone. I honestly was so close to losing it completely and allowing my HellBeast to erupt, that I could have torn the rest of this Gods forsaken place to the ground. That was until we heard a voice.

“Who goes there?”

We all turned to face a broken doorway, to see an old figure emerging in a ragged cloak. The person hobbled out into the garden with a cane of twisted tree root, using it to aid their uneasy steps.

“Who are you?” I asked, making them scoff.

“I asked first, now speak before the spirits of the lost battle cast you from this place.”

I looked around as the rest of group did, seeing nothing but crumbled remains of a wall.

“That sounds like an empty threat to me,” I replied, before the cloaked figure tapped his cane on the floor once, and suddenly we found ourselves surrounded by the ghosts of what I assumed were Hades’ fallen soldiers. Each one was shrouded in a blue hue, as if caught in a giant, unburning flame. All were dressed the same, in their demonic armor, with chest plates holding the family crest of Hades. Some even held torn, ragged flags and banners with the same symbol, showing that indeed, this had once been Hades’ army.

“Arh!” Lerna shrieked, moving closer to Koro who tucked her into his side to protect her from the undead army.

Everyone now had their weapons drawn, whether it be by sword or by spear, the ghostly figures saw us as a threat.

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