Roots Of Rage: A Vampire King Paranormal Romance (Transfusion Saga Book 9)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “Thank the Gods!” Nero let this out in a whisper as if her prayers had been answered. This also managed to entice us to use that last shred of energy we had left for there was finally light at the end of the brutal tunnel. Or should I say, a wide-open space, one void of any brutal forest.

  Once through to the other side, the bare landscape showcased a broken temple. It looked as if it had fallen from the Heavens and landed here, right back before mankind even truly existed. Back to a time where the only wars fought were those between the Gods. It was incredible but there was still something so haunting about it. Taking in all the details, all that was left to do then was close your eyes and think for a moment before suddenly you could see it as it once was.

  The temple looked very similar to how I imagined the Temple of Olympian Zeus before it had fallen into ruin. However, this particular temple was one of Earth’s creations and it was situated in the centre of the Greek capital, Athens. Its construction began in the 6th century BC during the rule of the Athenian tyrants.

  They were certainly ambitious and envisioned building the greatest temple in the ancient world. However, it was not completed until a different reign of Roman Emperor, one whose name was Hadrian being now in the 2nd century AD, which was an astounding six hundred and thirty-eight years after the project had begun.

  Once finally finished it was known to be the largest temple in Greece, being made with an impressive one hundred and four colossal columns. But the temple's life was short-lived, as after being pillaged during a barbarian invasion in 267 AD it fell into disuse, only a century after its completion. It was never repaired and was reduced to ruins after this point.

  Centuries after it merely became a useful place to be quarried for building materials after the fall of the Roman Empire. For a historian like myself I found this soul destroying, that such a marvel of history and a triumph of man was picked at like vultures tearing whatever flesh was left from a dead carcass. However, despite this disappointing end, a substantial part of the temple still remained today, although only sixteen of the original columns survived. Naturally, this is still classed as a very important archaeological site of Greece.

  Now as for this temple, its large columns looked in better shape, even if only half were still standing. The pristine white marble looked incredibly maintained although this couldn’t possibly be the case. Not when some lay vertical on the floor, broken and with large slices rolled away, like giant wheels on a cart. These missing links split the columns in two or three pieces and now flat they looked as if they could become foundations for a house, they were that wide. Surprisingly, most of the inner columns seemed to remain, which was why parts of the domed roof were still in place. You could tell that the pure white unmarred marble at one time would have been pristine and gleaming like a white jewel, as most of it still shone now.

  “Gods almighty, it’s the Lost Temple of Olympia,” Nero said in utter awe and astonishment. We both were, as it was said the Lost Temple of Olympia started life on Mount Olympus, being known as a temple of worship in Zeus' realm of Heaven. However, Zeus had no other choice but to sacrifice this temple, creating a lightning bolt so strong that it split the mountain once the Titans were asleep inside. This was the only way he defeated them, as it was said that with Hades’ help, the temple fell to the deepest levels of Hell.

  I had grown up hearing these stories and being fascinated as a child, which no doubt paved the way to my career choice. Which meant that I knew what I would find inside. My father told me of the time that he'd spent there, not revealing why or the circumstances surrounding it. According to my father, inside would have been a treasure trove of statue remains, anything from giant arms to broken feet the size of a transit van. There were also statues over a hundred-feet tall and from the looks of how large the temple was, even in its ruined state, I could very well believe it.

  I once asked my father when I was younger why he didn't have any statues of himself and he told me, ‘if I was ever in need of a statue to gaze upon, it would not be of the sight of myself but would be that of your mother’. At the time my mother had heard the tail end of this and snuck up to my father from behind, wrapped her arms around his neck and told him,

  “That's it, I now know what I want for my birthday...” and then with a wink directed to me she finished by saying,

  “I hope you don't mind staying still for a long time, because I'm looking forward to that gold statue I can hang my coat on.” After this I remembered giggling and now being an adult, I no longer wondered what she whispered in his ear after it.

  I did, however, always wonder if my mother ever got that statue and if she did where she kept it. Although, knowing my mother's humour I could very well imagine it in some walk-in closet, one where she probably had it decorated with a scarf around his neck, complete with big hat, sunglasses, and wearing a dress.

  After all, one of my mother’s favourite pastimes was reminding my father of his mortality and that included not taking himself too seriously. Just as my father’s favourite pastime was teasing my mother of that mortality that he fell in love with.

  This was why, when gazing upon this place, knowing that my father’s footsteps had once walked its broken halls, I couldn't help but grin.

  Of course, it was also said the only statue with little damage that remained inside was that of Zeus sat on a golden throne. This was said to be an exact replica of the one that once sat in Earth’s realm for more fools to worship. At the time it was also known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, that was until its eventual loss and destruction during 5th century AD.

  I remember at the time asking my father how it had been destroyed but his reaction was strange as, instead of marvelling at his daughter’s inquisitive nature, one for the history of the world he lived in, he had steered the conversation away with the promise of cookies and milk. I later discovered that it was believed to have been the work of Cronus.

  Cronus had tried to murder his son Zeus as a child, but such a thing would come back to haunt him. This was because when Zeus was of age and of considerable strength, he came back and defeated his father who had once ruled over the Titans.

  Cronus had also been the one who had started the Blood Wars and was a great enemy to my family and all the Kings who aided in the prophecy to win the war and overcome him.

  “In all my years I never thought that I would ever see such a sight,” Nero confessed, and I had to agree with her, because despite the horrors that had brought us here, I couldn't help but see this as a small shred of a silver lining.

  “You know I hear there is a portal inside,” Nero said nudging my arm, but I moved away turning my gaze from the impressive heavenly sight of a broken temple. I knew without looking back at her that she was frowning at me in question, so I turned to her and gave her an explanation why I wasn't running towards the temple entrance.

  “That portal only leads to one place.”

  “Yeah, back to Earth’s realm, back to the Temple of Janus....So, what are you waiting for, this is your chance to get back and away from this hellish place?” Nero said. But she didn't understand the importance of why I was needed here. Don't get me wrong, her words had strength, but the strength needed to stay was far greater.

  “I can't leave.”

  “Why not, what is keeping you to this place…actually, better yet, what made you come here?” I frowned at this, now wondering what had been said. I didn't have long to wait,

  “The King…he said something about you being impulsive and putting yourself in harm's way for what you believe in…Personally, I was shocked and didn’t believe it for a second,” she added making a light-hearted joke out of it.

  “I bet you could have added a few choice words to that also, knowing how he would have said it,” I told her, making her grin sheepishly.

  “Yeah, I didn't get the impression that this was one of those added to the ‘pro column’ type of things.” I laughed without humour because I could just picture i
t for myself.

  “Come on, let's keep going, I may not be going to the Earth’s realm, but we’ve still got to find a way out of this level of Hell.” I said moving quickly on and away from the reasons I was here or what my future held.

  “Now, that I'm totally on board with!” Nero said, giving me a salute and following me closer to the temple. I wanted to go inside, just as I could feel that Nero did, but I also knew to do so would be too much temptation. So, we stayed clear of the entrance and walked around the side, coming across a courtyard of sorts. It was this side that had most of the temple sunken into the ground. Because of it, it looked as though when it had landed into the dirt, it caused an explosion of black quartz to erupt from the ground. The space in between had been cleared so that the wall which surrounded this courtyard was jagged with razor-edged crystal formations. It was only now at this angle I could see that only half of the temple actually remained, for it looked like the other half had continued to fall into a cavernous abyss of darkness below.

  “That's when the Titans fell,” Nero whispered as she too took in the haunting sight.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, curious to hear the rest of the story and not from books but from someone who lived in Hell.

  “The story goes that when the Titans were defeated, they were imprisoned in the temple of worship on the top of Mount Olympus. Then good ole Zeusy boy, split the mountain and the temple fell into Hell, half of which you see now, the other half…” She then made a comical sound like a bomb had been dropped before exploding. She reminded me of my Aunty Pip in that way as she often included sound effects in her stories.

  “Let me guess, the other part was where the Titans were imprisoned?”

  “It is said that the powers of sleep were needed just long enough to keep the Titans from breaking free. However, once they awakened, they found themselves with the core of Hell shaking around them and it was enough that the impact rocked the core and lava encased their awakened forms. Once cooled it became an unbreakable force imprisoning them until their father Cronus could break them free…well, that had been the prophecy anyway.”

  “You're talking about the Blood Wars,” I said making Nero nod, looking grave.

  “Mount Tartarus, where the Titans were imprisoned is no more.” After this Nero continue to walk, obviously not wanting to speak of it anymore and I knew when to push and when not to. We crossed over the courtyard and I shuddered as a weird feeling crept over me. It was as if some part of me had already been here once before. I shrugged it off and followed Nero, wondering how far it would be until we eventually came across something useful, like a portal back to where we belonged. Back to the realm of blood and death.

  “You know when we get back, I'm really gonna speak to Lucius about changing the name of his realm, it doesn't exactly sound welcoming,” I joked cutting the tension between the conversation we’d just had, and it worked as it made Nero start laughing. However, once again that laughter was interrupted by a sound we had both come to dread.

  “Oh, you've got to be kidding me!” Nero shouted, throwing her arms up in the air and no doubt wondering, as I was, if we would ever catch a break. The growling and snarling behind us told us that this wasn't likely, and once again we found ourselves running for our lives.

  Running once again, from…

  “Fucking Hellhounds!”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Déjà Vu Daughter

  We continued running until we came to what looked like a vertical tunnel that had been drilled even deeper underground. It was a huge spiral staircase that looked overgrown by the soul weed that was overflowing the edge. This created a grey curtain of twisted roots and deadly thorns. It covered the first few turns of the spiral of steps making it almost impossible to get down from the top, making the first lot of steps unusable but even if they hadn’t been, then trying to navigate down quickly enough to outrun the Hellhounds was even more impossible.

  I suggested that we could take the steps and possibly hide there, hoping they wouldn't see us. But then, it was like Nero had said, if they’d not given up by now, she didn’t see them giving up at all. I had to agree as after all, Hellhounds were just as stubborn and tenacious as their masters, the Hellbeasts.

  The centre of the spiralling staircase was so wide you could have dropped a four-bedroomed house down there and still have space either side. The drop was so vast that the bottom seemed no bigger than my thumb.

  “Then what are we gonna do?” I questioned nervously looking behind me, knowing that they were going to be here any second, as the growls were travelling across the distance and getting louder the longer we stood here.

  “I have an idea, but it might be a bit risky,” Nero said making me nod behind us, and point out the obvious,

  “Riskier than being eaten alive?” I asked, making her grimace before replying,

  “Good point.” After she agreed with me, I went on to ask her what she intended to do, wishing one of us had wings and the other the muscle strength to hold the fuck on.

  “What's your plan?” I asked, knowing at this point we needed to try anything.

  “When you touch the Eye you absorb its power, yes?” I frowned wondering where she could be going with this and said,

  “Yes, I think so, but we already know that you can't touch it it's too dangerous.” Nero looked down the drop as if trying to weigh up something and I grabbed her arm to get her back to the conversation.

  “Yes, but you can touch it,” she pointed out, making me question,

  “You think I should try and face the Hellhounds again, because the last time…?” She quickly cut me off,

  “Gods no! What are you, suicidal!”

  “Okay, then I'm confused,” I admitted.

  “If you touch the Eye and I touch you then I can draw its power through you, like a conduit.” I frowned and shook my head a little as if testing if I was hearing her right.

  “Oh no, no, no, that's a bad idea…besides, we don’t even know if it will work again and the last time…” She cut me off once more.

  “Look, I have depleted my power, meaning I have nothing left in me after using it all to save my own life and stitch my head back together so I wouldn’t bleed to death. But with this, well, if I had the barest amount that the Eye could offer, I could get us down there and away from the Hellhounds.” I had to admit the louder the growls behind us were getting, then the more I thought this plan had merit. However, I felt I had to say once more,

  “I don't know, Nero, this sounds dangerous,” I said, clearly uneasy about this whole thing, but then as I had only moments ago she made the point of saying,

  “What's more dangerous than being ripped apart? Come on, Fae, I don't like this anymore than you do but what other choice do we have?” Her panicked voice rose to the point of being almost high-pitched telling me that fear was making her desperate. She didn’t want to do this anymore than I wanted her to, but what choice did we have?

  None.

  “Alright, let's do this,” I agreed pulling the material from my shoulders ready to use the Eye of Crimson once more and this time, all I could hope for was that instead of showing me my death it would aid us…in preventing it.

  “Are you sure you're ready for this?” I asked with the material open at the ready to touch the Eye. Nero rolled her shoulders and answered me truthfully,

  “No, not really, but let's do it anyway.” After this we both nodded at each other at the same time and just as I touched the Eye, Nero clasped my shoulder. Thankfully, this time something happened, as the reaction was instantaneous. I closed my eyes and sucked in a breath as I drew up the power it offered. It was as if the Eye already knew what we faced and this time gave me what I wanted, without visions of the past or future.

  I heard Nero suck in a startled breath before she whimpered as if the power she was gaining from me was too much. It was a strange feeling as the energy from the Eye went straight into me and then out again, and for once, it didn't stay in
me. It was almost as if it was being stolen, even though I, myself was letting it go. Truth be told, it was a conflicting feeling that had me fighting my emotions, as on one side, I was growing angry that it was being taken from me and on the other, I was thankful that it was.

  So, I tried to focus more on the feeling of calm and serenity. As if I knew that I was letting it go for a good reason, one other than death and destruction. Either way, I knew when it became too much for Nero and this was what made me sever the connexion. I quickly sucked in more air and the second I could breathe easier again, I turned to check that she was okay.

  Her eyes were completely white, making me realise now that when I had seen her on the ground and bleeding in the temple, it hadn't been the face of death as I first thought. Her eyes changed because she was channelling the last of her power into healing herself. Although now there was a slight difference, being that the extra power had manifested itself in her eyes as a crimson ring that circled the white.

  I shrugged her off my shoulder breaking yet another part of the connection, then I grabbed her face and shook it a little, dispelling whatever had gripped her. Then I told her,

  “Now is not the time to freak out, Nero, now is the time to get your head in the game and do the shit you promised.” She shook her head a little when I dropped my hold on her cheeks and seemed to have snapped out of whatever it was that had gripped her.

  “You good?” I checked making her nod once before she shook her slight frame and then cracked her knuckles. I looked behind us to see that the Hellhounds would be at us in less than a minute for they were getting bigger by the second.

  “Okay then, magic time eh?” I said in a rush of words that were masking ones that should have been…‘I think it's time to hurry the fuck up.’

  Nero smirked and said nothing more before she cupped her hands together and started to pull them apart showing the tendrils of power between them. It was as if she had a sticky rubber ball that was being stretched and manipulated before it became too big to hold. The glowing blue essence stretched out so far, it became a flat disc in front of her as it grew and grew until it was the circumference of the spiral staircase. I took a premature step forward thinking that this was some sort of platform we were supposed to stand on to lower us to the bottom. Thankfully, one of her hands slapped to my chest preventing me from going any further, then with white and red demonic eyes finding my own she told me in an ethereal voice,