Exoria (The God Chronicles #5)

by Kamery Solomon

  “That could take a while,” Arsenio mused.

  “I don’t care how long it takes, just as long as it happens,” Hades growled in reply.

  Now, seeing the weapons on the ground just ahead of me, I felt a spark of hope light in my chest. He’d managed to lose them sooner than I’d thought he would.

  Darting forward, I slid through the dirt, reaching for the twin blades. The walls around me began to change again, the dirt momentarily blinding me, and I called out, suddenly feeling the floor give way underneath me.

  Tumbling down, I felt as if the air were being sucked from me, the light of Hades’ fire dimming into nothing, until my body finally crashed into the ground below. Groaning, I tried to move, feeling as if every bone in my body had been shattered on impact. A pounding headache burst into existence for me, the pain I was feeling causing me to swallow down bile as it rose in my throat.

  Stones continued to roll around me, the maze not done changing yet. Gingerly, I struggled to my feet, holding my bruised side with care. The hilt of my sword pressed against me sharply, reminding me to be grateful that I hadn’t landed on the weapon. It was pitch black down here; all I could see were the faint trails of those who had passed through here before me.

  As the air stilled and fell silent, I reached out, trying to feel for something to hold onto in the darkness. Lightning buzzed between my fingertips, giving me some light to look with. The hole I’d fallen through was gone now, not even the slightest trace of Hades or Erebos showing anywhere. Moving cautiously, I hurried down the hall the best I could, a slight limp to my step. If there were any sign of my companions that I could find, I would be able to make my way back to at least one of them. For now, though, we were all lost in the labyrinth.

  Breathing the now stale air in deeply, I padded through the dirt, one hand lighting the way, the other clutching my still sore side. A few of my ribs were cracked for sure, and I would definitely have bruises to show for the fall, but I hadn’t been too injured to keep from getting crushed, thankfully. Now, if I could just keep from getting killed by something else, I would be happy.

  In the distance, Avalon’s scream reached my ears again. Pausing, I tried to decide which way the sound was coming from, my heart speeding up. What was Phoenix doing that she was being so vocal about? Was she hurt?

  The sound of rushing air reached me again and I steadied myself, watching as the rocks around me began to change once more. It was no wonder Erebos had chosen to hide here; it was an engineering masterpiece by itself, let alone with the enchantment that made the maze continually change. They could be hiding the entire army here, and no one would ever know it.

  On the other side of the wall, I caught sight of a trail I was very familiar with—Arsenio. Sucking in a breath, I darted through the changing walls, ducking and sliding through the stones. Earning a few scrapes and cuts, I followed the path, trying not to be alarmed by the blood on some of the stones as the walls settled into place.

  Suddenly, everything stilled around me, every trace of Arsenio gone. An eerie silence pressed down on my ears, my senses screaming that something was coming, something bad.

  A foreboding pounding quickly grew around me, until the wall right next to me shattered into a million pieces, a body flying toward me through the rubble.

  Jumping out of the way, I barely managed to get a look at Phoenix before she was rushing back through the hole her impact had created. Her wings were ruffled, feathers sticking out every which way. Blood washed over her face, her skin burning angrily as she screamed once more. It was a sound of fury and murder, not terror, like I had originally thought.

  Disappearing back through the wall, she took the light and extreme heat she’d provided with her, not even seeming to notice me as she rushed off.

  Shoving to my feet, I quickly followed her, staring in awe at the number of walls she had crashed through. The way she’d been deposited before me suggested she had been thrown through them. The bricks scattered across the numerous hallways, each scene looking like a horrific beating had occurred there. The demi-Titan still rushed off in the distance, the glow from her fire joining an even bigger blaze ahead of her.

  There was only one Titan who could have beaten her so and made her so angry. Swallowing hard, I tried to get a good look at Typhon as she pounded into him. The two were so much alike, though, it was hard to tell who was who in the flurry of feathers, snakes, and fire. The only way I was able to tell them apart for sure from this distance was by noting that Phoenix was at least half the size of her father.

  The scattered stones around me began to tremble and move again, the maze determined to keep going, despite the chaos those inside it were inflicting. Quickly, I dashed through the openings, ducking and twisting as I made my way to the two Titans, trying to gauge exactly what was happening in the fight ahead of me. Heat from the inferno they were creating washed over me in a breathtaking wave, sweat instantly beading on my forehead. Just as I stepped into the wide, open arena that had formed around them, the walls closed behind me.

  I was going to be a part of this now, whether they wanted me to or not.

  The two beings circled each other, both lunging out every few steps, trying to hit the other. Typhon was as large as the stories said; his head seemed to brush the top of the cavern, even though he stooped slightly to fit in the space, his wings folded behind him. Long, black hair hung in dreadlocks around his sneering face, his eyes completely black and soulless. Angry red skin burned with a dull glow, the flames licking many scars along his arms and bare chest. Some of the marks were self-inflicted, displaying patterns that stuck out proudly. The brown, tattered pants that stretched over his thighs and cut off just after his knees didn’t burn in his inferno, unlike Avalon’s furs that were smoking slightly from the blaze she was putting off. Even his bare feet looked like they could squash an entire town if he decided he wanted to. His size made him slower, though, every movement seeming to happen in twice the amount of time it took Phoenix to do it.

  “You are strong. That is good, for you.” Typhon’s voice rumbled lowly, like an avalanche just falling to the bottom of a mountain, the words gravely and slow. “It’s a shame, that you put such power to waste.”

  “Fighting for freedom is not a waste,” she replied fiercely, her eyes glowing dangerously red.

  “You do not fight for freedom,” he laughed, the booming sound causing a few rocks to tumble down around me. “You fight for power and revenge. I would expect no less from any daughter of mine.”

  Phoenix laughed then, the sound making a chill run down my spine. “You are no father, Typhon. Any child of yours would know that, too.”

  Surprisingly, the jab seemed to bother him some, his nose twitching as he stilled and stared her down. “So it would seem.”

  Spitting blood from her mouth, Phoenix grinned. Lunging forward, she landed a blow square on his chest, knocking him back for a moment. It didn’t take him long to recover, though, swiping at her with a fist full of snakes. The creatures knocked her over, wrapping around her legs as he hoisted her into the air, dangling her upside down like a fresh catch of the day.

  “No!” I shouted, not realizing, until that moment, neither of them had realized I was there.

  Phoenix’s eyes grew wide and half crazed as she watched me, writhing as she tried to escape the snakes wrapped tightly around her. She looked as though she would like to shout at me and strangle me herself, if only she weren’t caught at the moment.

  “Adrastia.” Typhon sounded gleeful as he looked down on me, a wide smile covering his features. “I thought you were rotting in Tartarus. Then again, my daughter probably freed you, too. I didn’t think it was true, when they said the two of you were working together. How does your whelp of a father handle that, I wonder?”

  Raising my sword, I watched the Titan carefully. Arsenio had been right—Typhon was not someone I’d been hoping to run into while here. “Well, he banished me, so . . .” Smiling slightly, I stepped toward the pa
ir some, trying to focus on what was really important here. Phoenix needed to make it out alive; it didn’t matter what happened to Typhon, and I didn’t need to kill him right here. As long as Phoenix lived through whatever was about to happen, everything would be okay.

  A calmness settled over me at that thought, the maze suddenly seeming like every other place I’d ventured into in search of Titan filth. This was no different from all the times I’d been a hunter for Olympus. My mission was clear—rescue the demi-Titan. Any other beasts that were taken down in the process would be extra experience.

  “I will gladly claim the honor of ending your life, Adrastia.”

  Trying not to gulp, I held onto the comfort I’d found in the situation, and relaxed into the power of the lightning bubbling inside me. Before, I would have had next to no chance of winning a fight with Typhon. That wouldn’t have stopped me, but now I had my extra powers to rely on. Lightning had bested this monster before and it was about to do it again.

  Swinging his arm back, Typhon jerked Phoenix around, hissing slightly as she burst into a full on ball of fire. Before I really knew what was happening, he had launched her toward me, laughing as she struggled to get her wings opened before impact.

  Slamming into me, she grunted as we crashed through the wall, our bodies tangling into a heap of arms, legs, and wings.

  “Are you okay?” I asked quickly, running my hands over her to check for injuries. Gasping, I resisted the urge to pull away as her fire burned me. My wounds would heal; would hers as well?

  “Stop!” she hissed. “I don’t need your help!” Struggling, she shoved me back down to the ground, straddling me as she righted herself. Thankfully, she let the flames on her dim until her skin was just hot to the touch.

  “The blood all over your face says otherwise,” I pointed out smartly, holding my hands out in surrender. Her heart was racing, body pressed against mine in a way that instantly brought back memories of holding Avalon while she slept, watching her eyes, closed in peaceful slumber.

  Those same eyes stared at me angrily now, hands shoving me away as Phoenix got to her feet. “I’m handling myself just fine. I don’t need some Olympian prince coming to my rescue every time I get a scratch. I’m not Avalon—quit treating me like I am!” Kicking me hard in my already sore ribs, she turned and hurtled herself back through the wall, fire licking her skin as she charged the giant once more.

  Wincing, I followed suit, pushing myself off the ground with care as I quickly checked my ribs. It was going to take a while for me to heal from the beating I’d received today. There was no way I was going to let Phoenix put Avalon in danger, though, not without me there to make sure everything went the way it was supposed to.

  Picking my sword up out of the dirt again, I vaulted through the wall and shouted, charging the pair of fighters already brawling in the middle of the ring.

  Phoenix was vaulting an aerial attack, raining fire orbs down like some kind of biblical prophecy. Wings pounding dangerously, she managed to evade Typhon each time he tried to grab her out of the air again. As much as I hated to admit it, she really was holding her own against the monstrosity. I hadn’t noticed it before, but he was bleeding as well, several well placed slashed marking his body. He also showed faint signs of exhaustion, such as his legs shaking if he held still too long and his wings looked as if he’d been flying the wrong way in a hurricane.

  Formulating my own battle plan, I halted in my charge, instead sending an electric shockwave through the ground. The floor rumbled and rocked, the wave shooting across the earth and slamming into Typhon’s legs, causing him to teeter dangerously.

  Yelling in shock and frustration, the Titan turned his attention from his daughter to me, black eyes suddenly glowing red as he leaned toward me. Sucking in a deep breath, he opened his mouth wide, a roar growing within him. Suddenly, fire shot from his throat, funneling toward me at a shocking speed.

  Dodging the initial blast, I rolled across the floor, running as the beam followed me. The heat from the attack was almost too much for me to even bear, unlike any other I’d experienced. It felt as though I were being cooked alive between these walls, the two Titans’ happy flames as they disposed of me.

  Screeching, Phoenix seemed to magically appear behind Typhon, axe in hand. Raising it high, she dug the blade into his back, halting the fire beam as he cried out in pain and anger.

  Quickly flying to my side, she grabbed a fistful of my shirt, raising me off the ground. “Leave, now.” Eyes flashing, her tone was as serious as I’d ever heard it. “I don’t want or need your help.”

  “I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re safe.” Shaking my head, I swatted at her hand, getting her to release me. “You’re smaller and faster than he is. Using your powers like you have been is getting you nowhere because he has the same abilities. You’re going to have to beat him with just brute force.”

  “I know what I’m doing,” she hissed, turning as her opponent successfully pulled the axe from his back. She paused, though, gaze darting around the room for a second, her mind obviously working out some kind of plan.

  “If you want to help, wait for my signal,” she finally said, jumping into flight again without any further explanation.

  Soaring up to Typhon, she began to sway from side to side, pausing just long enough for Typhon to reach out for her on each side. After the first few grabs, she flew around behind him, fire blasting him until he turned around. The more she darted around him, the clumsier he became, his size keeping him from matching her speed. As his feet caught during one turn, Phoenix shouted to me.

  “Now, Cristos!”

  Holding my palms over the ground, I surged electricity into it, watching the power snake through the ground and strike Typhon. The blast was so strong that he fell completely, landing on his back with an earth shattering crunch.

  Around us, the walls began to change again, moving furiously as Phoenix landed beside her father. Punching her hand into his chest, I watched in horror as she ripped his heart out, holding the massive organ as it still beat in her hand. Even with the changing maze between us, I could still hear what she said as she looked her father in the eye, her foot on his throat.

  “A Titan can only be killed by what created it,” she said smoothly. “And I was created by you.” Squeezing the now flaming heart, she grinned cruelly, watching as the Titan sputtered beneath her, his fire quickly fading. “We are born of the same matter, Father. I killed you just as easily as you could have done to me.”

  Typhon went still beneath her, the heat that had been exuding from him vanishing without a trace. The only movement left from his body was that of the ashes of his heart fluttering down as Phoenix released them.

  For the first time since I’d seen her again, I realized that Phoenix really, truly, was a monster. She spoke of freedom and fairness, but all she really wanted was death and power. I’d known this before, but a small part of me had been hoping I was wrong. Avalon was still in there somewhere. She would never stand for such actions.

  But Avalon was no longer in control, and the creature that was rising from her ashes was as majestic and terrifying as any I’d come across before.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Hades

  Victory was so close I could taste it mixed with the metallic flavor of blood in my mouth. Brushing dust from my eyes, chest heaving, I glared at Erebos, watching as he spun his twin blades in his hands. I’d managed to get him to drop them several times now, but without the extra help from Cristos and Arsenio, the fight had turned into one of wits as much as strength and skill.

  The Titan slowly stalked toward me, using my stolen helmet to send out magical urges of fear and abandonment, trying to make me succumb to all the powers he possessed. Blood ran down his chin, the black void of his eyes seeming to stare at me hungrily. His robes were in tatters now, singed and ripped from our scuffle. However, each step he took seemed to exude confidence and superiority, as if he were merely playing with me.
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  “Do you give up yet, Hades?” Drawling on, he smiled, his teeth red from the amount of gore in his mouth.

  The magic from the helmet grew, pounding down on me as I knelt in the sand before him. It made my skin prickle, my breath catching in my throat, but still I stared at him, gathering strength for another attack. “We’re having so much fun,” I replied snidely. “Why would I want to ruin a good thing?”

  Laughing, Erebos shook his head as smoke billowed out around him. The cloud grew darker and darker in the large tunnel, blocking out everything behind him and smothering the flames I’d lit along the wall to see with.

  “How well do you see in the dark, I wonder?”

  The cloud began to creep forward, slowly engulfing me in the mist of darkness. It was as if someone had pressed a blindfold against my eyes and fabric to my nose and mouth, making it hard to breathe. I was no stranger to smoke, having control over it as well, but what Erebos had conjured was different somehow. It was as if it were darkness itself, eating away at anything light and pure until it was destroyed.

  “I was born in darkness, and raised without light. There is not a creature on all the earth who could understand it better than I.” Erebos continued to speak lightly, the sound of his scythes dragging down the stone walls, sounding like nails on a chalkboard to me.

  Opening my palm, I tried to light a fire to see with, but the flames snuffed out as soon I brought them into being. Suddenly, I felt movement beside me and ducked, hearing the whistle of the blade as it swung past my head. Flattening myself against the ground, I crawled away, desperately trying to see anything.

  “How fitting, crawling like the young one you are.” Erebos laughed again, the sound bouncing around in the space like some crazed maniac in a Hall of Mirrors attraction.

  The thud of his weapon hitting the ground just in front of me stopped me in my tracks. It felt like I was gasping for air, everything around me seeming to constrict in the darkness I’d been trapped in.