Chapter 156: Shit! I am doomed

Chapter 156: Shit! I am doomed
~Third POV~

Hades was waiting outside the palace and the second he saw them approaching, anger as old as the time he had been caged in this realm awakened in his eyes.

He thought within himself, how could they easily call upon them and they were willing to help but they abandoned him there after three thousand years simply because he didn't agree with them. How could they turn their backs on him but come running for these mere beasts?

He wasn't in the gentle persona that he had worn with Lyra anymore.

Five minutes ago, Hades had been willing to let go of the thought of ever leaving this realm as long as Lyra was with him.

He had even felt his heart race with excitement and joy and not darkness like it had been for the past three thousand years. He had felt alive. He had felt like he mattered.

But now, they were here to ruin his hope and his family. He won't let them. Lyra was his and he wasn't going to let anyone take her away from him.

His form flickered between human and white Stag beast, something that had never been meant to exist in a world with rules.

Just like the nine gods that each had a beast representing them, the Stag was a beast created in representation of Hades' true form.

One moment he looked almost like a man, the next his silhouette was turning into many limbs in a magnificent Stag form with antlers that seemed to touch the sky itself.

The sight of him made the guards falter completely. Even Seraffim's breath caught in her throat.

When he saw Ragel and his people approaching, he smiled.

It was the smile of someone that had been alone for three thousand years with no one of equal standing to play with but had finally found something to amuse itself with.

"Ragel," he roared. His voice sounded like multiple voices were speaking all at once. "You came to my realm. I do not know if I should say you are brave or foolish. Did you really think you could challenge me here? In my own domain? In a place where I am law?"

"Give me my Lyra back," Ragel hissed. His voice was steady but his beast was already pushing forward beneath his skin, demanding to be released, demanding to be unleashed on the god standing before them who had caused all their pain.

But Ragel knew if he charged wrongly at Hades, he would likely lose and that would put everyone he had brought at risk. He had to be smart.

Hades laughed at his words.

The sound echoed through the abyss and made the crystal palace walls vibrate with a sound as though someone was breaking glass everywhere at once.

"No," he said, with a smile that was all teeth and mockery. "She's mine now. The ritual is beginning. Can't you feel it? Can't you feel her power responding to the blood moon?"

He raised his hand and a bright black flame exploded outward.

It wasn't directed at anyone specifically but it hit everything in its path like a wave of destruction.

It hit Darius first because he was closest to Hades, thrown backward with force that had absolutely no mercy behind it.

His body crashed through a crystal wall hard enough to crack the stone and send him flying into the chambers beyond.

He landed hard on the other side, gasping for air, blood running down his face from a deep gash above his eye and his back that had been stabbed by crystal shards during the process of the fall.

"Darius!" Seraffim screamed his name.

Seeing how Darius was hurt, seeing the blood, and understanding that they weren't any match for Hades in direct combat, the words of Theron echoed in her head.

'Call on the fox goddess. Summon Kaeldran if you must. If Hades becomes too strong, call on the gods.’

She took a deep breath.

Her hands were shaking but she opened her mouth and called out to the gods like Theron had told her to do.

But the words that came out weren't their native Underworldlian tongue.

They weren't any language she had learned in her life. They were old and powerful.

They were in the language of the gods themselves, words that formed the realms and the very reality of them all.

"Kaeldran! Onyeeze! Onye nwere ike!" Her voice changed as she spoke, becoming deeper, more loud and clear. "Ị dị onye nwe ike! Ị dị chi! Eze nke awara!"

Seraffim didn't realize her voice wasn't her own anymore. It was something older speaking through her.

A power that had been waiting in the depths of her blood for her to call. The sound of it made the ground shake and the sky above darken with gathering clouds.

She didn't even know what the words meant, but they were pouring out of her mouth with absolute certainty.

"Kaeldran! Ị tozuokwu! Ị bụ chi nke osisi! Ị bụ chi nke eluigwe! Come to me! Bịa!" Her voice cracked and shifted between her own and a deeper throaty one. "Chukwu! Help me! Save us! Kaeldran ọ, gụọ m ekele!"

She could feel something inside her chest responding to her words, she didn't stop.

Hades' attention turned towards her. He saw her as a threat that he needed to eliminate.

He gathered his power in his hands and raised them to swing at her where she knelt, still speaking in that impossible language that made the air around shimmer.

"You dare call on them?" Hades roared. "You dare invoke their names in my realm? I will burn you to ashes where you stand!"

But Garius ran towards him in full rage, his horns caught the strange light of the abyss realm.

He roared at Hades with everything he had. "Leave her alone!" Liam bellowed, clashing his armor against his sword to draw his attention to themselves. "She's not your concern, god! Your fight is with us!"

Sarai joined the others and they formed a circle around Seraffim. Her fire erupted around her like a shield, her eyes went pure white as her siren powers activated with her fox ones responding to the danger.

She opened her mouth and her voice filled the space, a piercing scream so terrible that it shouldn't be possible.

It hit Hades like a blow and for just a moment, just the tiniest fraction of a second, he staggered backward.

His form shook and his confidence shattered just a tiny bit, after he shaken off her attacks, he sealed her mouth with his powers that she couldn't scream or speak.

"Foolish creatures," Hades hissed. "All of you are nothing but insects to me, I am a god, I created you all. They stole you all from me!"

Sarai, although her mouth was sealed, could still use her flames and she threw them at him while her blood pumped faster to remove the dark magic that was banning her speech.

Meanwhile, Theron was holding the gates barriers, and at the same time keeping shadow creatures from overwhelming them completely.

Suddenly, he feels a presence descending from the sky above him outside the realm.

He could tell it was another god and not a messenger sent to represent a god.

“ Shit! I am doomed!” He cursed under his breath, a long string of curses after each other.

He knew exactly who this is and it meant he was going to be punished. Siofra was going to make him pay for everything he had done, for every rule he had bent, and for every time he had interfered in their affairs and broken the sacred laws that bound them.

But the god that descended wasn't Siofra as he had thought. It was Kaeldran.

The fox goddess materialized in front of Seraffim with the grace of someone that had existed since the beginning of time itself.

She was beautiful beyond words, very tall with silver hair that seemed to flow like water and brown eyes that glowed like fire.

Her form glided between human and fox. The sight of her made even Hades pause in his fury.

She didn't acknowledge Theron at all, she ignored his presence like he was beneath her notice.

Instead, she floated straight to Seraffim who was on her knees still speaking in the god language, and earnestly calling out with a voice that was no longer quite her own.

"You called me child," Kaeldran said as she touched Seraffim's face gently.

Her voice was like soft chiming bells. "You called my name with power and you spoke the old language. You called me as one of my own would call."

Seraffim's eyes went wide and bright. She hadn't really expected to see another god but there was indeed one standing before her with twelve fox tails of different colors.

"I... I didn't know..." Seraffim started, her voice breaking slightly. "I didn't know what I was saying. The words just came..."

"I know," Kaeldran replies gently. Her hand was warm against Seraffim's skin.

"You called me because you needed me. And I came because you are one of mine. Your blood carries my mark, child. Your bones know my blessing. You are a fox princess, as am I, and I do not abandon my own."

She turned to face Hades and her entire demeanor changed. The gentleness vanished completely, replaced by anger.

"Hello, Hades," she says calmly as if she was talking to an erring child. "I hear you've been causing problems in my my people"

Hades' face turned red with anger.

For the first time, Ragel saw something that looked like fear cross his face.

"Kaeldran," Hades said. His voice and demeanor are no longer confident. "You shouldn't be here."

"And yet I am," she said, with a smile. "Blame your luck that a blessed child summoned me because you won't be escaping me except of course, you return to your palace and I reseal you in."

While they were still distracted, Ragel ran towards the palace.

"Keep him occupied," Ragel shouted to his team as he ran past them toward the palace doors. "I'm going in. I'm going to find her and bring her out."

And he ran into the palace alone.