Chapter 154: It's a trap

Chapter 154: It's a trap
~Third POV~

Two weeks before the blood moon was supposed to appear, the Elenibakers elders were summoned.

These were the core of the Elenibakers families branched out in different regions all over Salvatore.

They came in their numbers honoring the summons of their king. When they got to the palace, introductions by the two grand lords were made as they introduced their wives.

Some approved while others didn't but none could voiced out their displeasure.

Ragel strode into the throne trying to look every bit the king he knew his people expected him to be even though he knew he was running a little mad everyday.

“ Thank you, for honoring my invitation Lord Vavous,” Ragel greeted the century old Lord that had stopped aging due to his Underworldlian genetics.

He was tall and just like the grand lords he had red eyes and white hair and no different from nephews even though he was five decades older than them.

“ Thank you, for inviting me, your majesty,” he replies, bowing his head with one hand on his chest.

Ragel nods at him. “ You must have heard of the things that have happened?”

“ Only a little, my king.”

Ragel nods and then, “ The grand lords, their two wives and I will be travelling, we don't know how long will be gone. So you and house Elenibaker are to be in charge and nothing, I mean absolutely nothing is to happen to the kingdom while we are gone. Are you up to the task Lord Vavous?”

Vavous looked at the others as murmurs spread among the other Elenibakers but they know better than to disrespect a beast king whether they are up to the task or not.

“ Yes, my king. My brothers and I thank you for this privilege.” Ragel smiles and then glides out of the room.

That evening, with Theron leading the way, they left and began their journey into the abyss.

For a week and six days, they followed Theron, the twins took care of their wives even carrying them on their backs as Theron had warned them not to use a carriage or a wagon.

Not that the women couldn't take care of themselves but the men insisted on carrying them until they got to a big gate, day six of their second week.

Theron stopped before the gates as did the others. The gates existed in a place that shouldn't exist in their mind.

They weren't in Salvatore. They weren't in any kingdom. Theron had led them to a space between spaces, a fold in reality where the core of the world was so thin you could see through it if you knew how to look.

The gates stood alone in that emptiness, huge and dark also carved with warnings in languages that had been dead for thousands of years.

“Onye ọ bụla banye n'ala a ga-echefu ịlaghachi ọ bụla, n'ihi na e gọziri ajọ onye ọchịchị ala a, na ndị na-emekọrịta ya gọziri ajọkwa.”

They all saw the language but couldn't understand what it was. “ What language is that?” Garius asked, looking surprised that as diverse as he was with different languages, he couldn't recognize this one.

“ Do not concern yourself,” Theron answers him, “ it's the language of the gods.”

Ragel and the others nodded. Theron walked around the gates as if observing it.

Darius checked his weapons one final time even though he knew they might be powerless.

Garius had his arm around Sarai, who was glowing faintly with the fire that now lived one with her skin.

The awakening had changed her but getting closer to the gates she started to glow but the fire never hurt her or the people around her.

Seraffim, for the oddest reasons, brought her notebook and she was drawing out the wordings on the gates.

The blood moon was directly overhead, the moon was slightly turned with the hint of blood mixing the light shimmering platinum blue that's it's usual color.

The light it cast made the gates look like they were bleeding.

Theron stopped and slowly he changed to his form, full white, silver hair and silver eyes and paint color white.

He floated closer to the gates. No longer observing it.

"The seal is thin," he said, his voice deeper than usual. "Since the blood moon is hours away from actually happening. The barriers between worlds are breaking, meaning it would be easy for me.”

He raised his hands and words came out of his mouth in a language that predated kingdoms.

The words sounded like they were pulling at something in the very core of the realm. The air shimmered as if electrified. The gates began to crack.

They shattered all at once, pieces of the metal dissolving into light meteor.

The pieces didn't fall; they just disappeared. A hole opened between worlds.

And as the others gazed inside, the other side was nothing like Salvatore.

The landmap looked twisted at angles that hurt to look. The ground was a dark crystal that pulsed with its own light.

The sky wasn't a sky at all; it was layers of darkness and different odd colors stacked on top of each other like something that had life.

For a weird reason,the trees grew sideways, instead of green leaves, they were black. Instead of pure water, it was clean black water which flowed upward.

“ What in the holy smoke is this place?!” Garius asked, quite stunned as he finally understood why Theron said nothing followed the rules of the real world.

"He knows you're coming now," Theron said. His voice was calm but his eyes were fierce. "The moment you cross, the seal recognizes you as intruders. You have twenty-four hours at most before he locates and confronts you. So move fast."

Ragel didn't hesitate or wait for anyone,he crossed through the tear in the air where the gates used to stand.

The moment his foot touched the other side, his footing went wrong. Gravity shifted and for a second, his brain thought it was falling upward.

His body lurched and but out of willpower he adjusted to a place where up and down were a mind game and not rules.

The air was cold and hot at the same time. Darius went through next behind him, cursing under his breath.

Then Garius with Sarai, lastly was Seraffim and their personal guards they'd brought. Each of them gasped as the realm's weirdness hit them.

Theron stood at the gates with his hands still raised, holding the tear in the air open with divine power.

But Ragel could see the strain on his face. It was costing him something to keep the path open.

"Once the blood moon begins, six hours is how long I can last," Theron said.

In total they had a day and six hours to cross an impossible realm, to fight Underworld creatures and to find Lyra and get back.

Ragel turned and ran, but the land didn't want them there. The ground beneath their feet shifted, trying to throw them off balance.

Crystal spikes grew in their path, forcing them to climb or jump or find another way around.

The sky above kept getting darker, like the abyss realm itself was noticing them and reacting.

Just when they were done with spiked crystals digging at them was when the underworld creatures came.

They rose from the ground like smoke taking form. But they didn't have clear shapes. They moved like they didn't have the strength to walk, all wobbly but if any of those were to touch them, they would rot.

"Spread out!" Ragel shouted.

They all immediately scattered.

Darius jumped left, his sword catching the strange light. He swung at a shadow creature and the blade passed through but the creature shrieked and dissolved.

With that shot, they had hope, meaning they could be hurt but they just had to hit them right.

To test his theory, Darius, once again, stabbed straight to the heart or whatever that looked like the heart of the creature.

“ Stab them in the middle,” Darius screamed as more came at them.

Garius went full beast, his body transforming mid-run into his massive bull form.

His roar shook the ground and shadow creatures recoiled from him. One lunged and Garius tore it apart with claws that glowed in the strange light.

“ Why did you go full beast form?” Darius screamed at his brother thinking about how he might lose him to his beast just like he had almost been lost once.

“ Do not worry, Lord Darius. I can change my master back,” Sarai assured.

Hearing that made him focus on the battle before him. He searched for his wife, he didn't find her but from their bond, he could tell she was having fun.

How she could have fun in such a place as this amazes Darius. Too distracted, Darius is almost stabbed but Garius' beast claws digged into the creature in the middle first.

“ Thank you,” Darius breathed. Garius' beast doesn't respond as he goes back to fighting.

Sarai's fire erupted around her, forming a shield. When she opened her mouth, her scream filled the abyss realm.

It was a sound that was both beautiful and terrible. The shadow creatures screamed when it hit them and they dissolved.

Seraffim, for reasons best known to her, didn't fight even when her fox wanted to.

She ran with her notebook, marking the path they had taken, at the same time marking the creatures' movements, if anyone came too close, he slashed them in the middle with her claws.

Although her fox wasn't too pleased, she understood her mistress wasn't really fond of violence.

Ragel’s attention was on the castle ahead, it’s close so he moved in that direction, fighting through anything that got in his way.

An hour of running eventually turned into two. Ragel couldn't tell if they were making progress or fighting in circles.

The landscape kept changing and what looked like they were going forward suddenly became something they had already passed.

Seraffim, who had taken note of all this, was the first to speak out. "The realm is playing with us," she screamed, still running, and well, fighting a little now. "It's testing us. We need to fix this or our time might run out."

"Ignore it," Ragel said, back. "We must head toward that castle. I know Lyra will be there, right now, that's all that matters."

But the palace didn't seem to be getting closer.

Darius took a shadow creature's attack directly across his shoulder and his flesh started rotting.

Sarai quickly fought her way to him being protected by Seraffim who looked angry and Garius, she slashed her hand, quickly pressed the bleeding hand to his injured one.

The rot didn't go away immediately but the pain ceased.

Garius came closer and Sarai noticed he was bleeding from a gash across his ribs.

She cut herself again, and placed it on his bleeding rib, Garius' injury was quicker to heal and seal up but not Darius but the rot wasn't eating away at him.

Swiftly three hours. They'd been running for what felt like days to them.

Their bodies should have been exhausted but the abyss realm wouldn't let them stop.

Every time one of them stumbled, something pushed them forward to inflict an injury that an already weakening Sarai got to heal with her blood.

And every time they slowed, the shadow creatures pressed harder, caging them in.

"Ragel!We need to slow down!" Darius said, pointing at the palace because suddenly, it was closer when seconds ago, it was miles away.

But now, they could see the actual gates of the palace walls.

"No," Ragel said. He didn't slow down. He pushed forward, yes, he knows he was being selfish but he needed to keep going so the others won't start feeling discouraged and defeated.

So even though he was tired and weak, plus how he wasn't fully healed from Hades blood, he and the others following lead ran towards the gates.

Everyone could feel Hades' power , meaning he knew they were here now but that didn't stop them.

When they got to the gates, it was locked, the shadow creatures caged in at that moment again.

“ Sarai, build a war of fire around us!” Ragel said to her. Sarai instantly channeled a massive wall of flame that went up to the sky that even the others looked surprised.

“ Woah…” Seraffim gasped, looking at the flames that the creatures who are foolish tried to cross but melted just as quickly.

Ragel, knowing they were running out of time and needed the gate opened, raised his hand to pound on the gates once and they swung open on their own.

Like an invitation as though Hades was daring them.

“ Let's go,” he said to the others.

"That’s a trap," Liam said immediately.

"Of course it's a trap," Ragel shot back but it was either this or they fought those creatures all through.

He ran through the open gates anyway. Behind him, his team followed.