Chapter 157: Will it hurt?

Chapter 157: Will it hurt?
~Lyra's POV~

I heard a loud roar which sounded like Ragel's beast and my entire body went stiff with hope and fear.

I tried to relax when little Ari broke into a loud piercing scream, I had to rock her gently to keep her quiet.

Another roar echoes that it shook the palace down to its foundations. I knew that roar the way I knew my own heartbeat.

It was the sound of a bond mate who had just realized his mate was alive and he was racing after her in a frenzy.

He was here and he was coming to get me. I could finally be free of Hades. Goddess, I am going to be.

“ Oh my baby, we are going to be free,” I said excitedly to my little one that just looked at me adorably not knowing what was going on.

The door to my chamber swung open and Cael appeared, his orange eyes were bright with urgency.

"Come now," he beckoned with his hand. "While he's distracted and focused on the fight outside. This is our only chance, Lyra. We have to move now."

Move to where? I was still hurting badly. "What?" I asked. I was exhausted from giving birth.

And I was holding Arianna against my chest and she was crying softly, confused by the violence happening around her. "I can't Cael. I just gave birth. I can barely stand."

"You can," Cael assures. He was already moving towards me, and helping me sit up carefully. "You're blood moon born, Lyra, it's time you start acting like it. Your power is strongest right now especially after birth and right when the blood moon is at its absolute peak. This is when you can do it, Lyra. Go to that crystal hall and destroy Hades' power, if you do, you can leave and no one gets hurt. This is the only time."

I opened my mouth to argue but closed it. He reached for a glass of something that was sitting on the table beside the bed.

The liquid inside shined faintly silver.

"Drink this first," he said as he held it to my lips with care. "It will give you strength. It will help your body recover enough to walk."

"What is that?" I asked.

"Something I made," he said, when I didn't drink it immediately. "Don't worry, I made it myself and it from the garden here. It's safe. It will help."

I drank it. The liquid was warm and tasted like cinnamon and honey mixed together.

The moment it slid down my stomach, warmth spread through me. My exhaustion didn't disappear completely, but it became manageable. My legs felt lighter as did my mind.

"Better?" Cael asked.

I nodded with a smile. He wrapped a cloth around me quickly, binding Arianna against my chest in a way that kept her safe but close.

Her small body pressed against mine, and her warmth kept me grounded and real.

She stopped crying almost immediately, as if sensing that she was safe and in the arms of her mother.

I smiled as she yawned and then closed her eyes.

"We have to go now," Cael urged. He took my hand and helped me to my feet. "Can you walk?"

"Yes," I said, surprised that I could. The potion had actually worked. "Where are we going?"

"To the throne room, where he normally sits," Cael replies, guiding me toward the door. "That's where his power source is. It's what holds this entire realm together. That's what we have to destroy."

We sneaked through the palace, although the corridors were absolute chaos. Hades' servants were running everywhere, confused and panicked by the fighting happening outside.

Guards were running toward the palace entrance, trying to figure out what was happening, and trying to understand why their god was being challenged.

Cael pulled me through a side passage that I had never seen before, he walked through the corridor with confidence.

"Stay close to me," he whispers. "And keep Arianna quiet if you can."

A guard appeared in front of us suddenly, stepping out from behind a crystal pillar with his weapon drawn.

Cael didn't hesitate. His hand lunged at the guard and he went down without a sound, without even time to cry out.

"Don't look," Cael said to me. Was he protecting me?

"I won't," I said. My eyes shot to my Arianna’s face instead, at her small face, at her golden eyes.

Keeping my mind on her kept me from thinking about the violence, and the people he kept ending.

When he was done, he pulled at my hand and we started walking again.

My legs felt wobbly even with the potion, each step was agony. My body was screaming at me to stop, to rest, to do anything but continue forward.

But Arianna was against my chest and I could still hear Ragel's roar echoing through the palace. If I can do this, then everyone would be freed of Hades.

I kept moving, we turned another passage, and another corridor, and to a set of twisting stairs that seemed to lead nowhere.

But Cael was certain of the direction. So I didn't question him. He noticed how I was breathing, he turned to me but he didn't stop walking.

"You're doing so well," he said as we walked. "Just a little further, Lyra. You're stronger than you think you are, I can promise you that."

"I don't feel strong now," I said and truly I didn't, my voice was shaking. "I feel like I'm falling apart."

"That's because you're a mother now," Cael said. His voice was gentle. "Being a mother makes you stronger than any warrior. And that makes you capable of things you didn't know were possible. A mother will do anything to protect her child. Anything such as destroying that crystal orb so you can finally be free of Hades."

We reached another set of doors that looked heavy, carved with symbols that hurt to look at.

Cael pushed the doors open with barely any effort and we finally entered the throne room.

It was massive with the ceiling stretching so high I couldn't see where it ended.

The walls were covered in crystal that vibrated with light, unlike the other parts of this realm, this hall was filled with brightness and no sign of darkness.

And in the center of the room stood the power source, an anchor crystal orb.

It was enormous. Three stories tall at least and thrumming with power that made my teeth ache.

How does he expect me to destroy something this enormous vibrating with such power?

I opened my mouth again but kept shut again.

"There," Cael said. He was breathing hard and I realized he was scared. His hand was trembling slightly as he pointed to the crystal. "That's what holds this entire realm together. It's what gives Hades control over everything here. Over every shadow, every creature, every passage. It's all connected to that crystal."

"How do I destroy it?" I asked, I wanted to get this done with.

"Your blood," Cael said. He turned to me and his orange eyes were serious. "Blood moon born blood. It's the only thing that can break it and destroy it. Your blood is the only magic that opposes his magic strongly enough to destroy it. Your blood is divine, Lyra. You just have to give it a try."

"Will it hurt?" I asked. I mean, I could bear a little pain that giant orb looks like it's going to suck me dry before it will break.

"Yes," Cael answers honestly. "But you're stronger than the pain. You just proved that by giving birth in a god's realm. This is nothing compared to that."

I didn't know if he was mocking me or maybe he had too much faith in me. And with the way he was looking at the orb, it seems breaking it is very important to him.

I looked at my hands. I was still bleeding from giving birth. But Cael was right, I must try it whether I am scared or not.

I reached down with my right hand and made a cut across my palm with a hair pin.

Blood welled up. For the first time in my life, I saw my blood glowing and the orb began to shake violently..

"This is it," Cael encouraged with a smile. "This is your moment, Lyra. This is what you were created for."

"No," I said. "I was meant to be a mother. I was meant to love Ragel. I was meant to live a quiet life in a quiet kingdom, not this."

"Maybe," Cael agrees. "But you were also born under a blood moon. And that means you were meant for this too. You must be quick before Hades notices we are here."

I walked toward the crystal with Arianna pressed against my chest and my bleeding palm held out in front of me.

Armored men appeared from the shadows. Real one this time, not ghost servants.

But real Underworldlians who seemed to serve Hades directly, they stride toward me with weapons drawn.

But as they got closer to me, something inside me snapped and the shadows on the walls moved with my hands directed that way.

When the shadows came closer, I touched them and the shadows came alive.

They snaked themselves around the guards, holding them in place, keeping them away from me and Arianna.

Cael was watching, smiling at this. “ I told you could do this!”

I ignored him as if being controlled by a force that I didn't know about. I walked toward the crystal and pressed my bleeding palm against it.

The moment my blood touched the crystal, it screamed.

An ear piercing sound that was so high and loud that everyone in the throne room fell to their knees.

The crystal began to form cracks with light spilling from the fractures. As the light of a realm spilled out so did, the foundation of the hall began to fall.

That snapped me back into my head. “ Cael, what's happening?”

"Go," Cael said. He was pushing me away from the crystal. "You have to go. I can't explain to you, but know that I am grateful to you. Because I can finally be free. You have to get to mate, this place is about to fall apart."

"What about you?" I asked.

He looked at me and smiled. It was sad. It was the smile of someone who had made a choice a long time ago and was finally seeing it through.

"I was always going to take the backlash," he said. "That was always my part of this. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you."

As if summoned, a large wave explosion happened.

Light and shadow collided. Power that had been contained for three thousand years burst free.

Cael threw himself in front of me and Arianna, shielding us with his body as silver light spilled from him but the divine power was too powerful and before my eyes it consumed him completely.

I watched as his form began to dissolve. As if he was unmade by the very crystal he had been helping me destroy.

As if the magic that held him in trapped for so long has finally released him.

"Go," he gasped out. His voice was barely audible over the sound of the shattering crystal. "Run. Get her to safety. Get to mate."

"No," I choked out as tears slid down my face with Arianna screaming. "Cael, no…"

"Go!" he screamed.

I finally took to my heels with the light chasing me. I ran from the throne room with Arianna pressed against my chest.

I ran through corridors that were collapsing. Behind me, the entire palace was coming down.

Above me, I could hear Hades screaming.

But I didn't stop running, however, a loud boom had me flying in the air and slamming me against a wall while I tried my best to protect my baby as I saw a figure running toward us.