The Phoinix: Age of Demigods

by S. L. Mancuso

  Chapter 35

  Binding of the Gods

  Bre and Rhea stood on a stone pathway outside of a cave that overlooked rolling green hills in the distance. To the right of them was a rocky cliff with a straight fall to the ocean. They should have been cold from the ocean breeze, but they could not feel the chill. In fact, their entire bodies were numb.

  From inside the cave, two women argued, followed by an explosion.

  “How dare you hide that abomination!” one woman screamed before another explosion rattled the cave walls.

  Bre and Rhea ran into the cave. Once inside, they saw a woman dressed in a sheer, white dress held up only by thin pieces of fabric around her shoulders. Slender bands of fabric flowed from her shoulders and attached to gold cuffs around her arms and wrists. Strips of gold stretched out from a gold belt and wrapped around her breasts. Sandals made of gold with leather straps wound up her calves. She had a red rose pinned to the side of her light brown hair that fell just below her shoulders. Her Beautiful facial features turned to rage. It became obvious that she was the one yelling and the origin of the explosions. She had her arm extended with a grey energy ball formed in her palm. Her eyes blazed a bright red.

  A second woman across from her stood with a pleased smile. Purple light, a protection charm, shielded her from the explosions. She wore a long, black dress with a silver bodice. She had a raven-feather cape that shimmered green and purple in the dim light of the torches on the walls. Random raven feathers stuck out from her black hair, tied into a bun. An amethyst amulet rested in the middle of her forehead, fastened with black metal chains connected to the sides of her bun. Her eyes were black with a slight purple shimmer in the center. If evil had a face, it would be hers.

  “Anath,” Rhea said, pointing to the woman in white and gold, “and the Great Phantom Queen,” Rhea pointed to the other.

  “Great Phantom Queen?” Breanna whispered.

  “There is no need to whisper here, Breanna. This is only a vision. They cannot hear nor see us. We, in return, have no powers. The Phantom Queen is also known as The Morrigan.” Rhea did not take her eyes off The Morrigan. She seemed uneasy, as if she did not completely believe they were invisible. “She is a shape shifter goddess of war and death, well-rehearsed in the dark magic of her religion. The Morrigan is the one who taught Eversor the secrets of Celtic sorcery, who then created the order of the Druids.”

  “Eoghan said she was trying to break down our protection charms. She can’t be trying to reveal our location if she is detained by flying energy balls,” Breanna said, staring at The Morrigan, wondering if she was as powerful as everyone made her sound.

  “Do not underestimate The Morrigan. Look at her hand.” Rhea pointed to a glowing blue light in The Morrigan’s palm. “She is actively wearing down our shields as she defends against Anath.”

  “I thought that was her protection spell.” Breanna said with a knot in her stomach as she watched the goddess multitask complex spells with ease.

  “The protection spell is cast by the Amethyst crystal on her forehead,” replied Rhea.

  “You had no right, you hag. You have betrayed the entire council! You should have handed him over when you found him!” Anath screamed and sent another energy ball crashing into The Morrigan’s shield, spraying sparks into the air. “I will wear down your shield, Morrigan.”

  The Morrigan smiled and calmly said, “Tienne.”

  Suddenly, a ring fire erupted around Anath. Anath fell to her knees, grabbed her head, and screamed.

  Bre lunged to help Anath, but Rhea grabbed her arm, holding her back. “Listen to me carefully. The Morrigan has great power. Even if she cannot see or hear us, she may be able to sense us if we get too close. That will be most unfortunate for us. This vision is a warning. Let us not do any harm to its cause. We must wait and see the true reason we are here.”

  Bre stayed next to her grandmother, but every fiber in her body urged her to rescue Anath. Rhea was a goddess, but The Morrigan frightened her. If a goddess was scared of her, Breanna had to heed her advice. Anath writhed in agony on the floor. Breanna was thankful she was powerless here and could not feel Anath’s pain.

  The purple light around The Morrigan faded as she walked closer to the screaming goddess.

  “Beg,” The Morrigan said coldly. Her tone was unforgiving and her power unyielding. “Beg for mercy, Anath.”

  Anath refused. Anath gritted her teeth as she said, “You can torture me for a thousand years, but I will never satisfy your sadistic soul.”

  The fire rose in height and Anath now lay on the ground with her nails digging into the floor, Her back rigid and arched as waves of pain convulsed her body.

  “I see you are as stubborn as ever, Grandmother,” a woman said disappointedly from the back of the cave. “With the plans I have for all of you, you will not have to yield to The Morrigan.”

  The third woman emerged from the shadows of the cave, appearing to be no older than her mid-twenties. She had wavy, dirty-blonde hair that fell to the middle of her back. Her eyes were a crisp blue that glowed in the dim light. She wore a mid-thigh, red silk dress with a low cut back that stopped just shy of her behind. A gold belt clung to her hips with a gold sheath that hung to the side. She wore black leather sandals with straps that climbed her legs and up her thighs, hiding beneath the rim of her dress. Egyptian style daggers engraved with hieroglyphs of animals covered her shins.

  The woman looked all too familiar, but Bre could not place where they would have met.

  “Now, now, my love. Don’t reveal too much of our plan.” Eversor stepped out from behind the woman and kissed her forehead.

  “It does not matter. She and her kind will soon be dead and the world will be ours again.” the woman smirked at Anath and The Morrigan, unafraid of both goddesses.

  The Morrigan glared at the third woman, who ignored her and walked towards Anath.

  Anath tried to relax her body and control the pain, but it kept surging through her, forcing her back to arch repeatedly. Still gritting her teeth, Anath gazed up at the third woman. “It is not possible…we killed you.”

  The third woman clenched her fist and the waves of pain increased in frequency and forced Anath to seize on the floor.

  “Yes, dear Grandmother. It is I, Elpis, the Great Queen and Bane of the Gods,” Elpis said with an evil smirk and looked at The Morrigan out of the corner of her eye.

  Bre took a step back in shock. Images of the massacre at the Nemeton of Arras and the baby pulled out from Haley’s stomach raced through her mind. Disturbingly enough, the memory of Eoghan conceiving the baby replayed over and over again.

  “I’m going to be sick,” Bre said bringing her hand to her mouth.

  The Morrigan waved her hand and the fire around Anath disappeared. Elpis screeched in fury and sent a gust of wind into Anath when she tried to stand, knocking her into the corner of the cave. Elpis snapped her fingers and chains wrapped around Anath’s limbs, waist, and throat, pinning her to the ground.

  As Anath struggled against her restraints, burn marks sizzled on her skin and smoke rose up from the chains. Anath whimpered as the chains singed her perfect skin.

  “You witch. She could have escaped!” Elpis rounded on The Morrigan. “Everything would have been ruined!” Elpis’ hand shook in anger.

  The Morrigan laughed, and suddenly a ring of fire circled Elpis, forcing to her kneel before the goddess. Elpis did not scream, but held her breath and clenched her jaw, refusing to give The Morrigan pleasure in her pain.

  “You are a pathetic child. I am thousands upon thousands of years older than you, and with greater power. You only have half of The Power, making you no match for any god, let alone someone as powerful as me,” The Morrigan gloated as she enjoyed Elpis’ suffering. “I can end your miserable existence with a flick of my wrist.”

  “Enough!” Eversor stepped in between The Morrigan and Elpis. “We have a ritual to perform, and you need t
o find Breanna and her group so we can complete our plan.”

  The Morrigan glared at Elpis, but nodded to Eversor. She waved her hand and the fire disappeared.

  Elpis stood up, ready to attack The Morrigan, but Eversor stepped in front of her and pointed to Anath.

  Elpis glared at Anath and held out her hand to Eversor. He removed a dagger from his belt and placed it in Elpis’ palm.

  Rhea gasped upon seeing the dagger. “How could they have found that? Oh no, my sweet son.”

  “That’s the dagger that killed Mother. Can it kill other gods?” Bre asked.

  Rhea trembled as she said, “It is also the dagger that killed your parents. It can kill anything it stabs. A rare poison is injected into the victim when injured by the blade, a poison that is rarely healed. The dagger was enchanted centuries ago by the gods to kill Elpis. She was the most powerful being in the world then and it destroyed her. It is the only blade that can remove The Power from a vessel.”

  Bre and Rhea held their breath as they watched the horrid scene. Elpis took the dagger and sliced open her forearm.

  When she lifted the dagger, a thin string of red light dangled from the tip of the blade. Without hesitation, Elpis yanked Anath’s head back by her hair. Smoke floated out from behind Anath’s neck as fresh skin burned against the chains. Elpis then plunged the dagger into Anath’s chest, piercing her heart. She withdrew the dagger and Anath’s wound immediately healed. Elpis then sliced her palm open and held her freshly cut hand on Anath’s forehead and chanted, “I bind one, I bind you all. I bind one, I bind you all.”

  Rhea grabbed Bre’s hand, “We need to leave, now.”

  Bre nodded, not wanting to argue with her panicking grandmother.

  Before they left, a baby cried in the back of the cave. Bre turned around to see The Morrigan glide over to a small cradle and lift a baby to soothe its crying. “There, there, Igraine. It is not time to wake. You have many years left to sleep. Hush now sweet babe.”

  Bre extended her arm without thinking and a white light erupted from her palm. Rhea and Bre were yanked backwards until they woke up against the tree they had been sitting under.

  Rhea gasped, eyes wide with fear. “Run!” she warned, pulling Bre to feet and dragging her back up the hill.